EVERETT – The good news for the struggling Everett AquaSox offense Wednesday night? Everett put plenty of runners on base.
The bad news for the AquaSox? Almost all those runners stayed there.
Everett left scoring chances all over the park, stranding 15 baserunners in a 9-5 loss to the Boise Hawks at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Everett left runners on base in every single inning except the ninth, and the Sox left the bases loaded twice with a chance to either tie the score or go ahead. But in typical fashion for a team scuffling at the plate – just five total runs in the previous five games – Everett couldn’t find the answers in the clutch.
“I lost track of them all,” Everett manager Mike Tosar said of the runners left on base. “We swung through a lot of balls today. We definitely saw a lot of pitches, over 200, and we left quite a few guys on base today.”
Everett (12-17) failed to take advantage of the wildness of Boise’s pitchers. The Hawks issued 10 walks, yet just one of those walks eventually came around to score.
Everett’s struggles contrasted Boise’s fate. The Hawks (14-15) made the most of their opportunities, leaving just three runners on base.
Marquez Smith and Jonathan Wyatt each homered to lead the Hawks. For both it was their second straight game with a homer. Steve Vento earned the win with two effective innings of relief.
Gregory Halman was the only Everett player with more than one hit, finishing 2-for-4. Starter Doug Salinas took the loss.
Salinas had a Jekyll and Hyde start. He was virtually perfect in the first three innings, facing the minimum number of batters and striking out five. But it all fell apart for Salinas in the fourth. In four innings, he gave up six runs – three earned – on four hits and three walks. He finished with six strikeouts.
Boise starter Chris Huseby also had his issues. He lasted just three innings, surrendering three runs – two earned – on five hits and two walks. He struck out four.
Everett took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Halman smacked a two-out single up the middle, then stole second on a play where the Hawks thought Halman was out – catcher Josh Donaldson was halfway to the dugout. That proved significant when Kris Sanchez singled to right, scoring Halman to make it 1-0.
Everett then got a little assistance to add two more in the second. Joe Dunigan struck out leading off the inning, but reached when the third strike found the backstop. One out later Jeff Dunbar’s grounder to short was booted by Jose Made. So when Deybis Benitez bounced a single up the middle, two runs scored to make it 3-0.
But it all fell apart for Everett in the fourth. After a single and an error opened the inning, Smith blasted a moonshot over the left-field wall, tying it up with his third homer of the season. A three-base throwing error by Salinas on Ty Wright’s swinging bunt, followed by a wild pitch gave Boise the lead. Then Donaldson walked, was wild pitched to second and scored Luis Batista’s single, giving the Hawks a 5-3 lead.
The Hawks tacked on another in the fifth when Tony Thomas led off with a double off the left-center wall, then scored when Wright sliced a single to left, making it 6-3.
Everett got one back in the bottom of the fifth on Dunbar’s sacrifice fly to center, but the Sox couldn’t capitalize further, leaving the bases loaded and the score 6-4.
The Sox then clawed within one in the sixth, Welington Dotel driving home Edilio Colina on a groundout to short, making it 6-5.
However, the Hawks re-established their cushion in the seventh, Thomas grounding an RBI single through a drawn-in infield and Wyatt following with a line drive blast over the center-field fence, his third homer of the season, making it 9-5.
The Sox had another chance in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and top hitter Halman at the plate. However, Vento struck Halman out to end the threat.
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