EVERETT — Braden Bishop needed time to find his stroke at the plate.
Suffice to say the former University of Washington star is feeling comfortable with the bat now, as his four-hit performance propelled the Everett AquaSox to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Salem-Keizer Volcanoes before 1,549 fans in Northwest League action Tuesday at Everett Memorial Stadium.
“I think any time you go from metal (bats) to wood, and a different type of pitching style, there is always an adjustment,” Bishop said. “Also for me, hitting in the two-hole because I’ve never done that before. But it makes it really easy when Drew (Jackson) is on base all the time. I’m getting a lot of fastballs and I think that’s a credit to him.”
Bishop, the reigning Northwest League Player of the Week, extended his current hitting streak to seven games and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 contests. He was 4-for-5 and drove in two runs Tuesday.
He credits Everett hitting coach Brian Hunter with his plate improvement.
“We have made a lot of adjustments over a two-month span,” Bishop said. “It feels good to definitely see the adjustments come together and see the ball a lot better.”
The AquaSox (16-11 second half, 38-27 overall) maintained their stranglehold on first place in the second half North Division standings as they seek to clinch a playoff berth.
Starting pitcher Jake Brentz was impressive throughout his six-inning stint on the mound. Making his first appearance in a dozen days, Brentz showed no signs of rust as he fanned five and allowed only an infield single and two walks to improve to 1-0 in his third performance for the AquaSox since coming over from the Toronto organization.
“I’m definitely proud of the way Brentz threw after coming over from the Blue Jays,” Bishop said. “That was big for him, what he did tonight.”
The AquaSox never trailed as they won their fourth game in their last five contests.
A pair of two-out singles gave Everett a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Erick Mejia chopped a pitch to the right side and Salem-Keizer first baseman Chris Shaw lost his footing and couldn’t make the throw to pitcher Michael Connolly, who was covering on the play.
Mejia stole second and scored on Jackson’s single to right field.
Jackson later doubled with one away in the fourth and scored on Bishop’s single up the middle as the AquaSox pushed their advantage to 2-0.
Salem-Keizer cut Everett’s lead in half against reliever Joey Strain in the top of the seventh. Richard Amion led off with a single and went to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Amion advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1.
It didn’t get any closer.
Alex Jackson reclaimed the two-run Everett advantage with a solo home run over the center-field fence in the bottom of the seventh. Bishop’s eighth inning two-out single to left scored Arturo Nieto with the game’s final run.
Notes
Drew Jackson’s first-inning single extended his home on-base streak to 16 games. … Jackson finished 3-for-5 on the night and is now hitting .397. … The AquaSox will send Anthony Misiewicz (3-2, 2.04 ERA) to the mound Wednesday. He will be opposed by Salem-Keizer’s Grant Watson (0-1, 7.36).
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