Rivera’s homer in 9th gives AquaSox 9-8 win over Boise
Published 1:30 am Monday, August 14, 2017
Herald staff
BOISE, Idaho — Jansiel Rivera deilvered the decisive blow with a two-out solo home run in the top of the ninth to complete a late-inning rally and give the Everett AquaSox a 9-8 win over the Boise Hawks at Memorial Stadium on Monday night.
Down 8-5 in the top of the seventh, Everett (27-30 overall, 10-9 second half) capitalized on two errors and a wild pitch that allowed David Banuelos to reach base and eventurally score to cut Boise’s lead to 8-6.
The Sox would tie the game back up in the eighth when Louis Boyd singled home a run and Onil Pena — notching his fourth hit of the night — doubled home a run to tie the game at 8-8.
Boyd was thrown out trying to take the lead and score on the play to end the inning.
Rivera finished the game 2-for-5 with the home run, a double and two RBI. Chris Castellanos (1-0) picked up his first career win in the minors with 12⁄3 innings of scoreless relief for the Sox.
Boise (9-10) scored at least one run in five of the first six innings but failed to plate a run in the final three frames, leaving the door open for Everett.
Mike Bunal (1-3) picked up the loss after allowing just his second home run in over 30 innings of relief for the Hawks this season.
The Sox got out to a quick start in the top of the first scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly from Eugene Helder and an RBI single by Pena.
The Hawks struck back with two of of their own in the bottom half of the inning and then took the lead in the second on a solo home run by catcher Hidekel Gonzalez.
Everett took advantage of a bases-loaded balk to tie the game up in the top of third and took a 5-3 lead on a sacrifice fly by Joe Venturino and an RBI double from Rivera.
After getting a run back in the third, Boise took a 7-5 lead during a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run triple by Bret Boswell, who went 4-for-5 in the game for the Hawks.
The Hawks added another run in the sixth when Sox pitcher David Hesslink plunked a batter after an intentional walk loaded the bases.
The win tied the five-game seires at 2-2 with the rubber match scheduled for today at 6:15 p.m. in Boise.
