Published: Friday, August 26, 2011
AquaSox reliever roughed up in loss to Yakima
The Bears score three runs in the seventh off reliever Max Krakowiak to take lead, eventually beating Everett 9-3.
EVERETT -- The Yakima Bears did more than just delay the seventh-inning stretch in Everett on Friday.
Yakima's three-run top of the seventh inning cemented 9-3 victory over the Everett AquaSox, and sent the Frogs to their fourth straight defeat.
The Bears have taken six of eight games from the AquaSox this season.
With the loss, the Sox fell into a tie for first place in the Northwest League West Division with the Eugene Emeralds, who defeated the Spokane Indians 1-0 on Friday. Each team has seven regular-season games remaining.
How do the AquaSox respond?
"You come out and do your work," Everett manager Scott Steinmann said. "There is no magic thing, or somebody would bottle it up and sell it for millions of dollars. You just come out and you do your work and you prepare to win tomorrow."
The Emeralds clinched the West Division's first half. If they win the second half as well, the other West Division playoff representative would be the team with the overall best record for the season -- currently the Vancouver Canadians.
The AquaSox were trailing 4-3 and had just finished holding the Bears scoreless in the fifth and the sixth innings when reliever Max Krakowiak entered the game.
He never recorded an out.
Jimmy Comerota led off the inning with a single to left-center field. The next batter, Garrett Weber, launched a Krakowiak offering well over the center-field wall to give the Bears a 6-3 lead. Three batters later, Kerry Jenkins' single to left field scored Henry Zabala to give Yakima a 7-3 lead.
After giving up three runs, Steinmann replaced Krakowiak with David Colvin.
"He just had a bad night," Steinmann said. "Max has done a good job all year for us. His last two outings have been a little rough. You know, I would give him the ball tomorrow if he was ready to go. I trust him with the baseball."
The Bears added a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth for good measure.
Yakima smacked 19 hits in the game, led by Weber, who batted 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, a run scored and four RBI.
Everett's starting pitcher, Bennett Whitmore, gave up a run in each of the four innings he pitched. The Bears struck first in the top of the first inning when Weber's double off the left-center field wall scored Carter Bell. Bell walked earlier in the inning and advanced to second base on a Comerota single.
In the second inning, the Bears got an RBI single to right field by Jae Yun Kim that scored Justin Hilt to give Yakima a 2-0 lead. Hilt had led off the inning with a double to right-center field.
The Bears struck again in the top of the third inning -- this time in the form of the long ball. Bell led off the inning with a no-doubt-about-it solo home run to center field.
Westley Moss added an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning for Yakima before the Everett offense finally got going.
In total, the Bears scored four earned runs and managed nine hits in Whitmore's four innings.
But the AquaSox made it interesting -- at least for a few innings.
The AquaSox finally got on the board in the fourth inning. With one out, Ramon Morla and Jharmidy De Jesus hit back-to-back singles. Yakima starter Adam Kudryk hit the next batter, Jetsy Extrano, to load the bases with just one out. Morla scored on a sacrifice-fly and Jarrett Burgess followed that up by singling to load the bases once again. Kudryk gave up one more run on a bases-loaded walk to Marcus Littlewood, before getting James Wood to fly out to end the inning.
De Jesus knocked in the AquaSox third run with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
But for all the opportunities in the fourth and fifth, the AquaSox only managed three runs.
"You have to come up with the big hit, Steinmann said. "A lot of this game is coming up with clutch hits, not just getting them on, but getting them in. It's about scoring runs."
Offensively, the AquaSox were led by Ramon Morla, who batted 3-for-3 with a run scored.
Yakima's three-run top of the seventh inning cemented 9-3 victory over the Everett AquaSox, and sent the Frogs to their fourth straight defeat.
The Bears have taken six of eight games from the AquaSox this season.
With the loss, the Sox fell into a tie for first place in the Northwest League West Division with the Eugene Emeralds, who defeated the Spokane Indians 1-0 on Friday. Each team has seven regular-season games remaining.
How do the AquaSox respond?
"You come out and do your work," Everett manager Scott Steinmann said. "There is no magic thing, or somebody would bottle it up and sell it for millions of dollars. You just come out and you do your work and you prepare to win tomorrow."
The Emeralds clinched the West Division's first half. If they win the second half as well, the other West Division playoff representative would be the team with the overall best record for the season -- currently the Vancouver Canadians.
The AquaSox were trailing 4-3 and had just finished holding the Bears scoreless in the fifth and the sixth innings when reliever Max Krakowiak entered the game.
He never recorded an out.
Jimmy Comerota led off the inning with a single to left-center field. The next batter, Garrett Weber, launched a Krakowiak offering well over the center-field wall to give the Bears a 6-3 lead. Three batters later, Kerry Jenkins' single to left field scored Henry Zabala to give Yakima a 7-3 lead.
After giving up three runs, Steinmann replaced Krakowiak with David Colvin.
"He just had a bad night," Steinmann said. "Max has done a good job all year for us. His last two outings have been a little rough. You know, I would give him the ball tomorrow if he was ready to go. I trust him with the baseball."
The Bears added a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth for good measure.
Yakima smacked 19 hits in the game, led by Weber, who batted 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, a run scored and four RBI.
Everett's starting pitcher, Bennett Whitmore, gave up a run in each of the four innings he pitched. The Bears struck first in the top of the first inning when Weber's double off the left-center field wall scored Carter Bell. Bell walked earlier in the inning and advanced to second base on a Comerota single.
In the second inning, the Bears got an RBI single to right field by Jae Yun Kim that scored Justin Hilt to give Yakima a 2-0 lead. Hilt had led off the inning with a double to right-center field.
The Bears struck again in the top of the third inning -- this time in the form of the long ball. Bell led off the inning with a no-doubt-about-it solo home run to center field.
Westley Moss added an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning for Yakima before the Everett offense finally got going.
In total, the Bears scored four earned runs and managed nine hits in Whitmore's four innings.
But the AquaSox made it interesting -- at least for a few innings.
The AquaSox finally got on the board in the fourth inning. With one out, Ramon Morla and Jharmidy De Jesus hit back-to-back singles. Yakima starter Adam Kudryk hit the next batter, Jetsy Extrano, to load the bases with just one out. Morla scored on a sacrifice-fly and Jarrett Burgess followed that up by singling to load the bases once again. Kudryk gave up one more run on a bases-loaded walk to Marcus Littlewood, before getting James Wood to fly out to end the inning.
De Jesus knocked in the AquaSox third run with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
But for all the opportunities in the fourth and fifth, the AquaSox only managed three runs.
"You have to come up with the big hit, Steinmann said. "A lot of this game is coming up with clutch hits, not just getting them on, but getting them in. It's about scoring runs."
Offensively, the AquaSox were led by Ramon Morla, who batted 3-for-3 with a run scored.
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