Jun. 18—Colten Schmidt waited a long time for his opportunity to pitch on Sunday. He made the most of it despite some troubles in the field behind him.
While the outcome wasn't what he — or the team — might have hoped for, it was an important step for a player trying to recover a career beset by injury.
Max Wright hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning and the Eugene Emeralds held off the Spokane Indians 6-5 in the finale of a six-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Sunday.
With a fifth consecutive loss, the Indians (32-30) were eliminated in the first-half title race with three games to play. Eugene improved to 33-30 and moved ahead of the Indians into second place.
Schmidt made his first High-A start of the season after missing 2020 due to the COVID year and all of the '21 and '22 seasons rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. In 2019, he went 8-8 with a 3.47 ERA and 128 strikeouts over 135 innings between Low-A and High-A.
The 27-year-old lefty — a 23rd -round pick of the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 MLB draft out of Louisiana Lafayette — made two appearances for the Rockies Arizona Complex League team this season before being assigned to the Indians.
"It's been since 2019 since I've been in affiliated ball again," Schmidt said. "So, it was definitely exciting. I was definitely looking forward to it. I just wish I would've pitched a little better than what I did there."
Schmidt went 32/3 innings and allowed five runs — only one earned as the Indians made a pair of errors leading to runs — on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts. He threw 68 pitches, 44 for strikes. His fastball, which hit 94 in the first inning, was in the upper 80s by the end of his appearance.
"I felt good," Schmidt said. "I haven't really built up the stamina to go four or five innings so I knew it was gonna be a challenge to go out there in the fourth and shut it down. My body got a little tired, that's all, but it'll come with more work."
"He pitched pretty well. Located," Indians pitching coach Ryan Kibler said. "He's a pitcher. Changes speeds, locates, has a good plan and a good idea what he wants to do. Yeah, that should have turned out a little better for him."
Eugene's Grant McCray led off the game with a double into the right field corner, stole third without a throw and scored when Yanquiel Fernandez' one-hop throw home on a fly ball got past catcher Bryant Quijada for an error.
Schmidt got through the second and third unscathed but hit the wall in the fourth.