EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox couldn’t get out of Yakima fast enough and return home.
But being away from the oppressive heat of the eastern Washington deserts didn’t prevent the Sox from having to sweat.
Back within the friendly confines of Everett Memorial Stadium, the AquaSox reverted to their form from the week before — at least early in the game — then held on tight late as they defeated the Eugene Emeralds 6-5, snapping a three-game losing streak.
“We didn’t really put good games together through that road trip,” Everett catcher Travis Howell said. “Hopefully these six games at home we can start something up again, beat teams in our division and maybe get a playoff berth.”
Everett rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, taking a 6-1 lead. That proved to be just enough as the Emeralds scored once in each of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth to make Everett worry.
Sox manager Jose Moreno chuckled when presented with the idea that Eugene just ran out of innings.
“They have a very good team, very good hitters, and continued to score,” Moreno said. “But the relievers did a good job holding the game for us.”
Aaron Brown allowed just one run in five innings to earn the win, and Ryan Royster and Tyson Gillies each had two hits as Everett (26-33) remained 61/2 games behind West Division-leading Salem-Keizer, a 3-1 victor over Spokane on Saturday. Matt Renfree got the final four outs to pick up the save, his seventh.
Matt Clark and Ryan Hill each slugged homers for Eugene (30-29), which fell 21/2 games behind Salem-Keizer.
It was a welcome victory for the Sox. Everett was coming off a miserable series in Yakima, during which the Sox lost four of five against the team with the worst record in the Northwest League.
But Everett snapped back both with the bat and the glove, each of which let the Sox down against Yakima. The nine hits Saturday matched Everett’s high during the Yakima series, and the Sox played error-free baseball, something they couldn’t manage against the Bears.
The defense in particular did a U-turn. In addition to playing clean in the field, the Sox also turned three double plays.
“Sometimes the key to getting out of a jam is getting some double plays,” Moreno said. “Today, we had two or three in real tough situations with a good hitter at the plate. When you play defense, the pitching is going to be fine.”
The performance was much more reminiscent of Everett’s seven-game winning streak that preceded the Yakima series. That entire streak occurred at home.
“We find ways to win here, I think, more so than on the road,” Howell said. “We know how to play in this ballpark, which can help you, and that’s obviously come into play the past month.”
Everett took control of the game in the fourth. After the Sox loaded the bases with nobody out, Welington Dotel scored on a wild pitch to break a 1-1 tie. Royster followed with an RBI single, Anthony Phillips scored another with a suicide squeeze bunt, Ben Billingsley smacked an RBI single and Manelik Pimentel blasted a run-scoring double off the right-center wall, giving the Sox a 6-1 lead.
Everett’s lead seemed secure, but the Emeralds began chipping away. Clark hit his fifth homer of the season in the sixth, Blake Tekotte had an RBI single in the seventh and Cole Figueroa laced a run-scoring single in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-4.
Renfree, who entered the game in the eighth to squelch a rally, got two quick outs in the ninth before Hill homered to right (just his second of the season), making it a one-run game. But Renfree got Clark to ground out to first to end the game, and the losing streak.
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