Opponent: Boise Hawks
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KSER (90.7 FM)
Pitchers: Boise right-hander Luis Brito (5-4, 5.31 earned run average) vs. Everett left-hander Shawn Nottingham (9-1, 2.81)
Equipment malfunction
The AquaSox could chalk up Monday’s 8-4 loss to the Boise Hawks to a little faulty leather.
The turning point in the game may very well have been when Everett first baseman Brandon Green’s glove decided it didn’t want to cooperate.
With a runner on first base and nobody out in the top of the ninth inning, and Everett leading 4-2, Kyle Boyer smashed a one-hopper to first. Green had the ball in his glove, but the ball stretched the laces and popped through an opening at the bottom of the webbing, squirting into the outfield for a single. The next four Hawks also reached base in what turned into a six-run rally.
“I’ve never had that happen during a game like that,” Green said. “It was just one of those fluke things that just happened. Whether it cost us the game or not, I don’t know. But it would have been a double-play ball and could have been the turning point in the game. We would have had two outs with nobody on, or at least one out with a runner on first. It’s just hard to describe.”
But Green’s glove has had its issues in the past. The glove, the team’s only first baseman’s glove, has had problems since it was ordered at the beginning of the season. Green had the same thing happen during pregame infield in Spokane two weeks ago. The team has tried to fix the problem, tightening the laces and even having the glove restrung, but to no avail.
And because it’s the teams’s only first baseman’s glove, the AquaSox are going to have to cross their fingers the remainder of the season and hope it doesn’t happen again.
“We’re going to be rolling the dice,” Green said. “We’re going to try to keep a better eye on it and make sure the leather’s nice and tight. But we’ve got to use what we’ve got.”
Chen en route: Everett infielder Yung Chi Chen, who’s been gone since the All-Star break playing in Athens with the Taiwan Olympic team, is scheduled to return to the team Thursday.
Chen, one of Everett’s top all-around players, helped Taiwan finish 3-4 in pool play. Taiwan did not advance to the medal round.
Tuesday’s game was the 19th AquaSox game that Chen has missed because of the Olympics. While Everett’s offense hasn’t exactly stagnated in Chen’s absence, it has slowed slightly. Everett scored 6.4 runs per game in the first 45 games when Chen was with the team, but scored just 5.8 runs per without Chen going into Tuesday’s contest.
What will Chen’s return mean for the AquaSox?
“He leads the league in stolen bases, he’s hitting .297, he’s a good defensive player, you tell me,” Everett manager Pedro Grifol answered. “He adds another piece to our puzzle. Hopefully he can come in and give us the same production he was giving us before, he can continue to develop and not only help us win here, but help himself move up.”
In addition to batting .297, Chen also had three home runs and 29 RBI in 39 games. His 22 stolen bases (in 24 attempts) leads the Northwest League by three.
Nick Patterson, Herald Writer
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
