Opponent: Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KSER (90.7 FM)
Pitchers: Salem-Keizer left-hander Jonathan Sanchez (1-1, 9.72 ERA) ve. Everett left-hander Shawn Nottingham (8-1, 3.00)
Surging
The Everett AquaSox accomplished just what they set out to do in their recent three-game road trip to Salem-Keizer: create a little more distance between themselves and the Volcanoes.
By taking two out of three against the Volcanoes the AquaSox, in first place in the Northwest League’s West Division, moved four games ahead of the Volcanoes with 17 games remaining in the season. Salem-Keizer is now in third place, with Vancover in second, two games behind Everett.
“I was proud of the way we played in the series,” Everett manager Pedro Grifol said. “We won two out of three against a good ballclub, and any time you win a series on the road you have to be happy with it.”
Everett’s pitching was a big part of the AquaSox’s success. Everett’s team ERA going into Friday’s game was 5.08, second-to-last in the league. However, in the three games at Salem-Keizer the AquaSox pitchers gave up just four earned runs and 23 hits in 291/3 innings.
“Our pitching has been solid the last two or three weeks,” Grifol said. “Our pitching has really come around. We’re throwing strikes and attacking hitters. The pitchers are doing what we thought they could do eight weeks ago. They’re doing it now, it’s a good time to do it, so we’ll see if they can keep it going.”
Newcomers: The AquaSox pitching staff received reinforcements during its three-game road trip to Salem-Keizer as left-hander Brad Rose and right-hander Roman Martinez were added to the roster, helping to fill the void left by the season-ending injury suffered by Ruben Flores.
Rose, a 21-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., was signed by the Seattle Mariners as a non-drafted free agent out of Walters State Community College in 2003. He comes to Everett from Wisconsin of the full-season Class A Midwest League, where he was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in 14 innings, giving up 26 hits and 12 walks while striking out 11. Rose also made one relief appearance at both Class AAA Tacoma and Class AA San Antonio.
Martinez, a 20-year-old from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2001. He arrives after pitching one scoreless inning for Inland Empire of the full-season Class A California League. At Peoria of the Arizona Rookie League, Martinez was 2-1 with a 5.82 ERA in 212/3 innings, surrendering 28 hits and 10 walks while striking out 21. In his first appearance for Everett he tossed three scoreless innings.
Short hops: Everett infielder Oswaldo Navarro was given a clean bill of health and was back in the lineup Friday. Navarro had a finger hit by a pitch on Tuesday at Salem-Keizer. X-rays taken Thursday were negative. … AquaSox infielder Yung Chi Chen, currrently playing for Taiwan at the Olympics, was 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Taiwan’s 5-4 loss to Italy on Friday. Taiwan is 2-3 in round-robin play and must win its final two games against Japan and the Netherlands to advance to the medal round. … Everett coach Darrin Garner remains home in Port Charlotte, Fla., where he’s dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Charley. There’s no timetable for his return.
Nick Patterson, Herald writer
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