EVERETT — Two out in the ninth inning, nobody on, a former major-league closer on the mound. Those circumstances should equal an automatic victory at the Northwest League level.
However, it seems somebody forgot to inform the Eugene Emeralds that statistically their chances of winning were nil.
Eugene pounded out four consecutive two-out hits in the top of the ninth against Chad Cordero to score the tying and go-ahead runs, and the Everett AquaSox snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 9-8 loss Sunday afternoon at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Jason Codiroli’s double down the right-field line drove home what proved to be the game-winning run as the Emeralds (28-34) rallied against a pitcher with 128 career major-league saves.
“When you go out there you try not to look at it that way because it might get in your head,” Codiroli said about facing a former major-league all-star and getting the game-winning hit. “After it’s over and done with obviously it feels pretty good. It’s something I’ll call home and tell the parents about.”
The difficult defeat was even harder for the Sox to swallow in the greater context as it prevented Everett (34-28) from taking advantage of Salem-Keizer’s 7-2 loss to Vancouver. The Sox remained five games behind Salem-Keizer in the division race.
“That was a tough one,” said Sox catcher Trevor Coleman, whose sixth-inning homer was poised to be the game decider. “It’s unfortunate it came at this time of the season because we needed that one.”
The game was all but wrapped up when, with Everett leading 8-7, Cordero struck out the first two batters in the top of the ninth. When Kyle Loretelli dropped a soft two-strike single into right it seemed a lucky aberation that would quickly be rectified.
But the Emeralds didn’t stop there. On the next pitch Dean Anna lined a single to left to put runners on first and second. Then on a 1-1 pitch Kevin Winn’s grounder found the hole between second and third. Loretelli was sent home, and left fielder Welington Dotel’s throw arrived first. However, the throw was slightly up the first-base line, allowing a sliding Loretelli to sneak his foot in ahead of Coleman’s tag to tie it.
Then it was Codiroli’s turn. He ripped a pitch down the right-field line that scored Anna with the go-ahead run. It nearly drove in two, but Winn was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.
“(Cordero) did a good job getting those two quick outs, and any time you get two quick outs you want to attack the third guy and make sure you don’t put him on,” Coleman said. “He made some good pitches and they hit them. They’re a pretty good ball club, he made good pitches and today wasn’t his day.”
Everett got a runner on second with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but Chris Fetter came in and got Mario Martinez to fly out to deep center to end the game.
Codiroli and Nate Freiman added home runs and Loretelli finished 4-for-5 for Eugene, which was playing catch-up all day. Everett led 5-1 after one, 7-3 after four and 8-7 in the ninth.
“It seems like all year teams have been doing that to us, so it feels good to be on the other side of it,” Codiroli said. “We just battled for this win and came out on top this time.”
Matt Cerione homered and Martinez finished with three hits for Everett, which at least had the consolation of rebounding offensively from being no-hit by Salem-Keizer the previous night. The Sox had 10 hits Sunday.
Indeed, the Sox wasted little time erasing the memory of the no-hitter. After Codiroli homered on the second pitch of the game, the Sox jumped all over Eugene starter Jerry Sullivan in the bottom of the first. Sullivan didn’t help himself by walking the first two batters, with Martinez dropping a single into center to load the bases.
Gerardo Avila tied it with a sacrifice fly to left and Dotel smacked an RBI single to left to give the Sox the lead. Then Everett piled on, with Juan Fuentes lacing a two-run triple to center and scoring when first baseman Freiman couldn’t handle Ben Billingsley’s sharp grounder, giving the Sox a 5-1 lead.
Eugene chipped away and finally came all the way back in the sixth. Helped out by an Everett miscue, when neither shortstop Billingsley nor second baseman Hawkins Gebbers went for pitcher Jose Rios’ throw to second on a double-play ball, the Emeralds struck for four to tie it at 7-7. One run scored on the mix-up before Edinson Rincon laced a two-run double to right and Freiman drove in a run with a groundout.
Everett quickly regained the lead when Coleman launched his solo shot to right in the bottom of the sixth to restore the Sox’s lead. But fate wasn’t with Everett on this day.
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