Today’s Game
Opponent: Vancouver Canadians
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM)
Probable starting pitchers: Everett left-hander Tony Butler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Vancouver right-hander Jesse Hernandez (0-0, 5.40)
First impressions
The Everett AquaSox’s first series of the season may not have been a winning one, but Sox manager Scott Steinmann saw promise.
Everett went 2-3 in its season-opening series at Tri-City, and Steinmann’s first impression of his team in true game conditions saw both positives and things to work on.
“We started out real good in the first game, had 14 hits and the offense was clicking pretty good,” Steinmann said. “It kind of went south offensively after that. But we hung in there, played some close games — we won the extra-inning game, which is good to have early on. There’s some things we need to work on, and we’ll get better at it.”
Those close games characterized the series. Three of the five games was decided by a single run, and a fourth was decided by two runs. The teams split those four games that could have gone either way, with the Dust Devils winning the one laugher 8-1.
“Basically, four of those games came down to one thing: one pitch either way, one fielding play,” Steinmann said. “One swing of the bat could have changed every one of those games. If you’re in games that close, it’s a good thing because it means you’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”
As for the offense, the Sox batted just .233 in the series with an OPS of .613, meaning the Sox weren’t hitting for power or drawing walks.
“They started pitching to some of our weaknesses and then we started chasing some pitches,” Steinmann explained. “But we’ve regrouped and we worked on some things with the hitters, so I feel pretty confident in our game.”
New face
Everett had one new addition to its roster Wednesday, that being right-handed pitcher Jordan Pries. Pries was the Seattle Mariners’ 30th-round pick in this year’s draft out of Stanford University. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Alameda, Calif., made 16 starts for the Cardinal this spring as a junior, going 6-6 with a 3.41 ERA. He walked 32 and struck out 76 in 97 2/3 innings.
Canadian flavor
Vancouver is the one Northwest League team to change its major-league affiliation during the offseason. After spending their first 11 seasons affiliated with the Oakland A’s, the Canadians got back to their roots by signing a four-year agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays. That brings together the only team based in Canada in Major League Baseball and the only team based in Canada in Minor League Baseball.
The pairing has been a boon for the Canadians, who have seen a dramatic increase in ticket sales and will have a steady stream of famous former Blue Jays passing through Vancouver during the season.
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