EVERETT — Seattle Mariners reliever Nick Vincent didn’t need any advice from his teammates on what to expect prior to his rehab start at Everett Memorial Stadium Friday night.
That’s because Vincent had been here before.
It was back in 2008 when he was with the Eugene Emeralds, then an affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
“It felt good to work again,” said Vincent, who is the fifth different Mariner to appear with the AquaSox in a rehab start this season.
“First time getting in a real game. Everything feels fine. Just threw some minor-league ball, so that was different, but it doesn’t matter what ball you throw as long as you’re pitching out there and getting on pitches and getting that adrenaline going again.”
The AquaSox (5-3 second half, 23-23 overall) scored five runs in the first inning, but the Hillsboro Hops (6-2, 25-21) scored the game’s final seven runs to top Everett 7-5 before 3,625 fans on Star Wars Night.
Vincent, who hasn’t pitched since June 26 with a muscle strain in his back, allowed a two-out single while striking out the side in the top of the first inning.
He threw 16 pitches, a dozen of which were strikes.
“I heard these guys (Hillsboro) were crushing it last night so I thought, ‘All right, I’m not going to give them fastballs and cutters right down the middle,” said Vincent, who also mixed in two changeups.
“It made me pitch a little better, so that was good.”
Vincent is eligible to come off the disabled list and said he’ll see how he feels today.
Meanwhile, his Seattle teammate Ketel Marte, on a rehab assignment of his own, belted a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead as he played the first five innings at shortstop.
The Frogs added four more in the frame with RBI doubles by Eric Filia, Nick Thurman and Dimas Ojeda.
But Hillsboro’s Alexis Olmeda hit two-run home runs in the second and eighth innings, and Josh Anderson added a solo shot in the seventh as the Hops took the lead for good.
Everett mustered just two hits in the final eight innings.
The series continues tonight at 7.
Tim Viehoff (0-2, 2.92 ERA) will start for Everett against Hillsboro’s Mack Lemieux (0-1, 9.00).
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