PASCO — Two outs? Uh-oh.
That was the Aquasox refrain when Tri City had runners on with two outs Monday night at Gesa Stadium.
The Dust Devils took advantage of the two-out situations, scoring their first seven runs of the evening with two down to rout Everett 8-1 and even both teams
records (2-2) as well as the season-opening series.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Tri-City got a boost from second baseman David Hernandez who roped a double into right field, scoring two runs and giving the Dust Devils all they’d need in the form of a 2-1 advantage.
On a night when six Dust Devils had at least two hits, Hernandez may have had the biggest game, going 3-for-4 from the ninth spot in the order, scoring twice and stealing a base.
The Sox jumped ahead early in the first. After a pair of strikeouts to open the game, second baseman Jorge Agduelo was hit by a pitch. Right fielder Jabari Blash singled to center and then shortstop Jetsy Extrano doubled in Agduelo to make the score 1-0 before the Dust Devils stepped to the plate.
For the remainder of the game however, the Sox scattered just four singles against four Dust Devil pitchers. Everett’s first three hitters combined to go 0-for-10 including an 0-for-4 for Danny Lopez who entered the game hitting .625 on the young season.
Tyler Gagnon pitched 41/3 innings of four-hit ball to set up the win for the Dust Devils, but Rhett Ballard (1-0) got the decision after relieving Gagnon in the fifth. Ballard struck out two in 11/3 innings.
George Shipers (0-1) looked strong early on the mound for Everett, but was done in with two outs in the second and fourth innings, the latter of which broke open the game for Tri City.
After recording two quick outs in the fourth, Shipers lost his way. Hernandez struck again. This time the Dust Devils infielder provided the spark for a five-run inning with a single. Center fielder Brian Humphries singled and then the pair pulled off a double steal to record the Dust Devils’ first stolen bases of the season. Shortstop Timothy Smalling was hit by a pitch to load the bases then left fielder Leonardo Reyes knocked in a pair of runs to chase Shipers and give Tri-City a 4-1 lead.
Shipers walked two, struck out five and hit a batter in 32/3 innings, giving up six runs. Two came across on a pair of infield hits after he exited.
In the fifth Tri-City tacked on a 1-out RBI double by Humphries to run the lead to 8-1.
The two teams will play the rubber match of the five-game series today at 11:15 a.m.
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