Opponent: Eugene Emeralds
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Eugene Civic Stadium
Radio: KSER (90.7 FM)
Pitchers: Everett right-hander Dan Head (4-3, 1.69) vs. left-hander Scott Kelly (2-4, 5.03)
Goin’ yard: AquaSox outfielder Jason Rainey joined the professional home-run club Sunday when he hit his first homer in the team’s 4-2 loss to Salem-Keizer.
“It felt really good,” said Rainey a 31st round selection from Texas Tech University. “But I haven’t really been too worried about it. I just go out and try to put a good swing on every pitch.”
During the 2001 collegiate season, Rainey hit 10 home runs while at Tech, all of which came off aluminum bats.
“This was my first wooden bat home run, too,” he said. “It is a lot different, let me tell you. It is much harder with a wooden bat.”
Hot and cold: Outfielder Orlando Hernandez began his season in Everett with a 17-game hitting streak, good for a tie for the longest hitting streak in the league along with AquaSox teammate Greg Dobbs and Vancouver’s J.T. Stotts.
“When things go good, they really go good,” AquaSox manager Terry Pollreisz said. “The ball drops in spots it shouldn’t. That’s baseball.”
But like the fickle western Washington weather, even red hot streaks come to an end. Since Aug. 20, Hernandez has struggled, going hitless in his last 14 at-bats entering Monday’s game.
Going full throttle: Despite being officially knocked out of the playoff picture, which came after Sunday’s 4-2 loss to division leading Salem-Keizer, no one’s taking a rest.
“We are all professionals,” Pollreisz said. “It is a mentality thing. We’re out of the playoffs but we’re here to develop players, and that is what we do here.”
“Regardless of where we are in the standings, we come out every night and play our hardest,” Pollreisz said.
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