Opponent: Boise Hawks.
When: 6:15 p.m.
Where: Memorial Stadium, Boise, Idaho.
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM).
Probable starters: Everett right-hander Chris Tillman (no record) vs. Boise left-hander Mark Pawelek (1-4, 2.83 earned run average).
On the mend
Most players who return to the Northwest League aren’t exactly thrilled with the situation, considering it means they haven’t progressed up the minor-league ladder as scheduled.
Danny Santin is the exception to that rule.
The Everett AquaSox catcher, back for his second stint in Everett, is just happy to be playing again after watching from the sidelines the past seven months.
“Oh man, I can’t tell you how much I’ve been waiting to get back on the field,” Santin said. “It’s probably the toughest thing I’ve had to do so far in my professional career.
“I’m excited to be here because I’m just happy to be on the field and playing.”
Santin, who rejoined the AquaSox during their recent road trip to Tri-City, had a solid season for Everett last season, batting .273 with four home runs and 31 RBI in 54 games. Numbers like that would have warranted a promotion this season.
However, Santin strained his shoulder during the AquaSox’s first infield of the season, then struggled through pain the rest of the way. He tried playing through the injury, but finally capitulated late in the season. He underwent surgery in December to repair what turned out to be a torn labrum. It was his second shoulder surgery, the previous one coming during high school.
Santin spent the past six months rehabilitating his shoulder at the Seattle Mariners facility in Peoria, Ariz., but never got into a game until two weeks ago, when he began playing for Seattle’s Arizona Rookie League team.
Now he believes his recovery is on track.
“It’s good,” Santin said about his shoulder. “I’m pain free, which is most important. My velocity and strength isn’t there, but from my last surgery I know it usually takes a year-and-a-half before I get my strength back. So I’m not too worried about it.”
Rematch: Tensions could be high when the AquaSox head to Boise for a five-game series beginning tonight. The last time Everett and Boise faced one another, on July 17-21 in Everett, it became more of a street fight than a baseball series as the benches emptied during each of the final three games.
The first two incidents came after Everett’s Gregory Halman and Leury Bonilla, both of whom homered twice in the second game of the series, were plunked by pitches. Neither incident resulted in any punches being thrown.
However, the third incident resulted in a full-out brawl. It was precipitated when Boise’s Alfred Joseph overreacted to a tag from Everett first baseman Joe White, taking off his helmet and bopping White on the head. That incited the melee.
In the aftermath, Halman ended up with a broken hand that ended his season. Also, Everett’s Natividad Dilone, Jair Fernandez and Jose Graterol as well as Boise’s Joseph and Elvin Puello all received three-game suspensions.
It’s unlikely either side will have forgotten the last series.
Whiteout: White was out of Everett’s lineup for the second straight night because of a strained arch in his right foot. White, who leads the Northwest League in on-base percentage at .446, remains day-to-day.
Nick Patterson, Herald writer
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