Shortly after 1 p.m. on Sunday, Colt Emerson was called into manager John Russell’s office at Triple-A Tacoma. He was told not to sit down.
Emerson, the Seattle Mariners’ top prospect, was informed he needed to pack as quickly as possible because he was headed 40 miles north to Seattle for a nationally televised 4:20 p.m. game against the San Diego Padres.
Replacing Brendan Donovan, who was put on the 10-day injured list with a strained left groin, Emerson batted ninth and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run in an 8-3 defeat in which the Mariners managed just one hit.
Emerson figures to be back in the lineup Monday night when the Mariners open a three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox.
“It’s been a crazy day,” Emerson said Sunday. “It [stinks] that we didn’t get a win. But we fought, and it was a fun day.”
Emerson led off the sixth inning with a walk against the Padres’ newly signed right-hander, Lucas Giolito, who went on to walk the bases loaded with no outs. After a call to the bullpen, reliever Yuki Matsui walked Josh Naylor to force home Emerson. The Mariners scored their other two runs on sacrifice flies in the sixth.
Emerson, who will turn 21 on July 20, was batting .255 in Triple-A with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 38 games. The Mariners signed him to an eight-year, $95 million contract on March 31.
“We want to do the right thing for Colt,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said Sunday. “We also want to do the right thing for the Mariners. We think he’s the best option. This period will give him some runway. This is not a 15-at-bat or a 20-at-bat tryout to see if he’s capable of taking the job and running with it for the rest of the year.”
Hollander said Emerson is expected to start primarily at third base, with occasional games at shortstop to give J.P. Crawford a rest. Crawford left midway through the game on Sunday after getting hit in the right triceps with a pitch.
The Mariners have lost three straight games, four of their past five, and can use whatever boost Emerson can provide with catcher Cal Raleigh (strained right oblique) also on the IL.
The resurgent White Sox, meanwhile, have won seven of their past eight games, including two of three vs. Seattle from May 8-10 in Chicago.
They defeated the crosstown rival Cubs 9-8 in 10 innings Sunday at home on Edgar Quero’s two-run homer. It was a huge career moment for him.
“I mean, this is big,” said Quero, 23. … “Hopefully, I hit another one in the World Series like that, Game 7 to win the ballgame.”
Teammate Tristan Peters, 26, earlier hit his first career homer — a three-run blast — in his 47th major league game.
“It was incredible,” Peters said. “Everybody’s fired up. It was electric. We know we’re a good team, and you can feel it in the clubhouse.”
In Monday’s series opener, the White Sox plan to send left-hander Noah Schultz (2-2, 4.91 ERA) to the mound against Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo (3-2, 3.91).
The 6-foot-10 Schultz will make his seventh career start and his first against the Mariners. He didn’t get a decision Wednesday against the visiting Kansas City Royals in a game the White Sox won 6-5. Schultz allowed three runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings, with five walks and three strikeouts.
Woo beat host Houston 10-2 on Tuesday as he gave up two runs on four hits over six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Woo is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in four career starts vs. the White Sox.
–Field Level Media
