Opponent: Boise Hawks
When: 6:05 p.m. (two games)
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KSER (90.7 FM)
Pitchers: Game 1, Boise right-hander Luis Brito (5-4, 5.31 ERA) vs. Everett left-hander Shawn Nottingham (9-1, 2.81); Game 2, Boise left-hander J.R. Mathes (2-0, 4.58) vs. Everett right-hander Aaron Jensen (6-2, 4.87)
Weather luck runs out
The Everett AquaSox have been tiptoeing in between raindrops the last four days. Wednesday night the AquaSox’s luck finally ran out.
Everett’s Northwest League game against he Boise Hawks on Wednesday was rained out. It was rescheduled as a doubleheader today.
Rain threatened each of the first five games of the current homestand, but somehow the AquaSox managed to get all five games in, thought Tuesday’s contest was shortened to eight innings.
The doubleheader will start at 6:05 p.m. Both games will be seven-inning games.
Making the adjustment: Yung Chi Chen is scheduled to return to the Everett AquaSox today after his stint with Taiwan’s Olympic team. And Chen’s return will in all likelihood end Brent Johnson’s extended stay at third base.
Johnson, drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 14th round of the 2004 draft as an outfielder, has started at third base most games in Chen’s three-week absence.
Johnson, who played both outfield and at third base during his four seasons at UNLV, spent the majority of his time in center field during the first half of the season, though he did get the occasional start at third.
“It’s gone well, I guess,” Johnson said about his extended stay at third. “I’m not really sure how it’s gone for the team, but for me it’s gone OK. It’s been more of a challenge, but it’s been fun.”
Johnson may be unsure of his effectiveness at third base, but so far he’s looked pretty natural, handling most of the ground balls and displaying a decent throwing arm.
The throwing has been the biggest adjustment for Johnson.
“It’s a challenge more on my arm as far as the way you throw,” Johnson explained. “Your arm action is longer in the outfield and in the infield it’s going to be a lot shorter because there’s some guys who have pretty good speed. That’s probably been my biggest challenge as far as adjusting my arm angle, getting shorter length on my arm and getting rid of it quicker.”
While Johnson has cheerfully accepted his role at third, he won’t mind returning to the outfield. He considers himself an outfielder first, especially with defensive wizards like Oswaldo Navarro and Asdrubal Cabrera on the team.
“I like third as far as the challenge, though outfield’s probably more comfortable for me,” Johnson said. But as long as I’m in the lineup I’m happy.”
Pitcher’s park: Everett Memorial stadium is known as something of a bandbox, a hitter’s haven where balls fly out of the ballpark with ease and home runs sometimes come cheap.
But the change in the weather has brought a change in the playing conditions at Everett Memorial Stadium with it. The colder, denser air, which arrived for the opening of the current homestand, has slowed the flight of the ball, causing power numbers to drop dramatically.
“We had a couple of guys I thought had home runs and the ball just died, so that’s something we have to play,” Everett outfielder Casey Craig said.
In Everett’s first 28 home games, teams combined to hit 72 home runs, an average of 2.6 per contest. But in the first four games of the current homestand, there’s been just one home run.
And there have been some dramatic examples of the difference in the flight of the ball. In the first game of the homestand against Salem-Keizer, there were several hard-hit balls that looked like home runs off the bat, only to end up as routine flyouts. And Tuesday against Boise the teams combined for just nine hits, all singles.
“I was a little shocked (Friday),” said Everett outfielder Mike Wilson, who was one of the players robbed of a home run. “I thought I got all of it and it just died. I guess that’s just how the wind goes here.”
Short hops: Matt Tuiasosopo made a rare appearance in the leadoff spot Tuesday in Everett’s 3-1 loss to Boise. He went 1-for-4. … Everett’s offensive swoon in the last five games – in which the AquaSox batted .218 – has knocked the AquaSox off the top of the league in team batting. Going into today’s games Everett was batting .269, while Vancouver was batting .274 through Tuesday. … Former AquaSox pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Australia in the Olympic gold-medal game, but the Australians fell to Cuba 6-2 and had to settle for the silver.
Nick Patterson, Herald Writer
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