EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox encountered some extreme heat during their just-completed three-game series against the Tri-City Dust Devils. However, that heat only served to cool the Sox off.
Playing in temperatures that reached 105 degrees in Pasco, Everett dropped two of its three games versus the Dust Devils. It was the first series loss for the Sox after Everett opened the season with three consecutive series wins to race out to an 10-3 record.
Everett lost the series opener 8-1 Wednesday. The Sox rebounded to win 8-3 Thursday, but then suffered another big loss Friday when they dropped the finale 9-3.
The Sox had issues on both sides of the ball in the two losses. The Sox pitchers combined to walk 13 batters in those two games. Meanwhile, the Everett offense that overwhelmed the Northwest League through the first 13 games of the season managed just nine hits total in the two defeats.
“We lost two out of three, but the guys played hard,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “Tri-City is a good team, they have some good pitchers and some good hitters. It was a tough three games, but we have to keep our heads up here.
“It was one of those things where a lot of balls found holes,” Mummau added. “Our pitchers fell behind in some counts and they took advantage of it. They swung the bats pretty well.”
The most noteworthy development for the Sox during the series was the struggles of starting pitcher Luiz Gohara in Friday’s loss. Gohara, the heralded 18-year-old left-hander from Brazil who is considered one of the jewels of the Seattle Mariners’ system, was fantastic in his first three starts of the season, striking out 25 in 17 innings.
But Gohara had a harder time Friday. He faced just five hitters before he was removed. He allowed two hits, two walks and threw a wild pitch before being replaced by Rohn Pierce with two out in the bottom of the first.
“There’s nothing wrong with him, he just came up on his pitch count,” Mummau said — the Mariners organization has a policy of removing minor-league pitchers once they’ve thrown a large number of pitches in any one inning. “He got behind in some counts, had some deep counts, walked some guys, which drew up his pitch count a little bit.”
Despite dropping the series, the Sox still went into Saturday’s game with a comfortable cushion atop the North Division. Everett was 11-5, three games ahead of Tri-City and Spokane.
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