EVERETT – The Everett AquaSox got stuck in a hole Monday night.
And the Sox’s season seems to be stuck in a bigger one.
One big inning put Everett in a hole it couldn’t scramble out of Monday as the AquaSox fell to the Vancouver Canadians 9-3 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
And the Sox are having a devil of a time trying to claw themselves out of the hole that’s seen them lose four straight and eight of their past nine.
“We definitely need to stay away from the big inning,” Everett manager Mike Tosar said. “We need to get good starting pitching, we need our bullpen to keep us close and we need to compete for nine innings every game.”
Everett (13-21) isn’t getting much of any of that right now. The Sox found themselves trailing by five runs early in the game after Vancouver scored five in the top of the fourth inning. Everett was never in the game after that, and the Canadians padded their lead before Everett got a couple runs late.
Danny Hamblin was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI to lead Vancouver (18-15). Julio Rivera also homered and Matt Ray was 3-for-4 for the Canadians.
Kalian Sams, Roberto Mena and Craig Hurba each had two hits for Everett.
“We keep getting into trouble early in the game,” Tosar lamented. “We’re giving up one big inning, and once that happens it’s tough to come back. We still have to play nine innings, we still have to compete, but we’re playing catch-up.”
Everett never got much going offensively against Vancouver starting pitcher Inoel Deaza. The right-hander was efficient in improving his record to 2-2. In six innings Deaza gave up six hits – five singles and a double – and two walks, resulting in a single run. He struck out three.
The Sox were unable to get a similar performance out of Doug Salinas, who was hit hard. The righty gave up nine hits in five innings, leading to six Vancouver runs. He walked one and struck out three as his record fell to 1-5.
Vancouver struck first in the top of the third inning. J.D Pruitt led off by being hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second, took third on Danny Hamblin’s single and scored on Corey Brown’s sacrifice fly to center, giving the Canadians a 1-0 lead.
Everett tied it up in the bottom of the inning. Sams led off by ripping a double into the left-field corner. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Deybis Benitez’s single to right, making it 1-1.
But Vancouver then busted the game wide open in the fourth. It began when Rivera lofted an innocent-looking fly ball to right-center. However the ball just kept carrying and ended up clearing the fence at its shortest point for a two-run homer, his first of the season.
But if Rivera’s homer seemed cheap, Hamblin’s was anything but. Hamblin turned on a pitch and belted a line drive to left for a three-run jack, his sixth of the season giving the Canadians a 6-1 lead.
The Canadians then turned it into a rout in the seventh. Walter Correa grounded a two-run double down the left-field line, and Pruitt later lined an RBI single to right, making it 9-1.
Everett scored a pair of consolation runs in the bottom of the seventh. After loading the bases with nobody out, Kris Sanchez scored on Jermaine Brock’s groundout to the pitcher, and Sams scored on center fielder Brown’s throwing error, making it 9-3.
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