Eighth-inning doubles ensure AquaSox victory, 7-3
Published 9:00 pm Monday, August 13, 2001
Herald staff
KEIZER, Ore. – If the Everett AquaSox are to have any chance of catching Salem-Keizer for the lead in the West Division of the Northwest League, they must win almost all of the remaining games between the two teams.
Everett (26-27) climbed to within six games of the first-place Volcanoes (32-21) with a 7-3 victory Monday in the first game of a three-game series at Volcanoes Stadium.
In addition to the two games remaining at Salem-Keizer, the AquaSox play the Volcanoes six straight later this month, three on the road followed by three at home.
The AquaSox also gained a game on second-place Vancouver and now trail the Canadians by 2 1/2.
Everett scored two big insurance runs in the eighth inning. Greg Dobbs and Orlando Hernandez began the inning with back-to-back doubles. Emmanual Santana then singled to drive in Hernandez.
They were the first runs scored off Salem-Keizer reliever Peterson Benjamin in 23 innings.
Benjamin had thrown four shutout innings until running afoul of Everett’s hottest hitters. Dobbs, who finished the game 3-for-4, earlier extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Hernandez’s double gave him at least one hit in all 12 of his games as a member of the AquaSox.
Dobbs is batting .500 (31-for-62) during his 15-game streak, raising his season average to .319. Hernandez is hitting .327 (16-for-49).
The AquaSox jumped on Salem-Keizer starter Noah Lowry (1-1), the San Francisco Giants’ first-round draft pick, for three runs in the first inning. Two of the runs were unearned as the result of a miscue by Volcanoes third baseman Julian Benavidez, who misplayed a grounder by Jason VanMeetren into a two-base error.
Tim Merritt drove in VanMeetren with a double, then scored on a single by Dobbs. Dobbs advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a two-out double by Santana.
Everett continued to pelt Lowry in the second, notching three straight two-out hits. VanMeetren followed a single by Jose Lopez with his second home run of the season. And Merritt tripled before Lowry could get out of the inning.
After yielding six hits, four of them for extra bases, he did not return for the third.
AquaSox starter Travis Blackley, who missed his last turn in the rotation with stiffness in his shoulder, threw three hitless innings, but got into trouble in the fourth. After Benavidez led off with the Volcanoes’ first hit, Blackley walked Tyer VonSchell.
Matt Huntingford grounded into a force out on VonSchell at second, but Lopez’s relay to first was wild for an error, allowing Benavidez to score and Huntingford to go to second.
Ryan Ketchner replaced Blackley and promptly gave up an RBI double to Keith Anderson. A strikeout later, Miguel Miranda doubled home Anderson.
But after escaping the fourth, Ketchner (3-2) pitched three scoreless innings.
Russ Morgan followed with two more as the AquaSox bullpen blanked the Volcanoes over the final five innings.
