PASCO — The road didn’t prove to be any kinder to the Everett AquaSox than home was.
Everett’s struggles to start the season continued during its first road game of its 2014 Northwest League campaign as the Sox fell 10-1 to the Tri-City Dust Devils.Everett had a rough first series, dropping four of the five games in its season-opening home set against Hillsboro.
But while all the games against Hillsboro were relatively close — none were decided by more than four runs — there was never any doubt about Wednesday’s game against the Dust Devils. Tri-City opened the scoring with seven runs in the bottom of the second inning and never looked back.
Drew Weeks and Francisco Sosa each had two hits for the Dust Devils (2-4), who were playing their home opener. Tri-City also ran rampant on the basepaths, swiping seven bags. Four Tri-City pitchers combined on a six-hitter, with starter Helmis Rodriguez picking up the win by tossing six scoreless frames.
Phillips Castillo went 2-for-4 to lead Everett (1-5), which lost its fifth straight.
Everett starting pitcher Rigoberto Garcia had his second straight shaky outing as he took the loss. The right-hander, who was Everett’s opening-day starter, gave up seven runs — five earned — in just two innings. He walked four, giving him 12 walks in five innings so far this season.
The game was effectively decided in the bottom of the second as the Dust Devils sent 11 men to the plate, seven of whom crossed home to stake Tri-City to a 7-0 lead. The Dust Devils also stole five bases in the frame without any caught stealing.
Sam Bumpers got the fun started for the Dust Devils, hitting a two-run double over the head of Castillo in left. Shane Hoelscher’s bloop single to right brought in a run, and another scored when Sox shortstop Luis Caballero couldn’t handle Cesar Galvez’s grounder.
Then with two out David Bergin blooped a two-run single into left and Dillon Thomas lined an RBI single to left to complete the carnage. The rest of the game consisted of the teams playing out the string.
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