BOISE – The AquaSox’s bats remained scorching hot, but their gloves went stone cold.
The Boise Hawks took advantage of four Frog’s errors to edge Everett 7-6 in a slugfest played in front of 2,013 Monday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Hawks scored in each of the four innings that the AquaSox committed an error, and just four of the seven runs allowed by Everett pitchers were earned.
The Sox missed a golden chance to tie the game in the ninth inning with the tying run just ninety feet away and one out. However, Everett catcher Chao Wu weakly bounced into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play and the 14 Frogs hits went for naught.
The AquaSox (25-30) have lost six of their past seven games and are now a daunting 13 games behind Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League’s West Division.
The Frogs wasted no time scoring, putting up three runs in the top of the first inning. Center fielder Kevin Reynolds led off the game with a sharp single to right field off Boise starting pitcher Jose Pina.
After Everett’s second hitter Gavin Dickey was plunked by Pina, the stage was set for Danny Santin. The Sox designated hitter smacked a double over center fielder Tyler Colvin’s head to score Reynolds with the game’s first run.
After Manelik Pimentel struck out, Carlos Peguero singled to right, scoring Dickey. A Wu sacrifice fly plated Santin to make it 3-0 Frogs.
Boise responded promptly with a run of their own in the bottom of the first.
Matt Camp led off with a single over Leury Bonilla’s glove. After stealing second, Camp moved to third on a ground out, and came home on first baseman Pimentel’s error.
Boise took the lead in the very next inning, getting hits from Russ Canzler, Elvin Puello and Mario Mercedes sandwiched between a Bonilla error to add three runs and give the Hawks a 4-3 lead.
In the Frogs’ half of the third, Dickey knocked a Pina pitch deep over the left-field fence for his third home run of the season, knotting the score at 4-4.
Boise took the lead right back with a two-out rally in the third. Deryck Lewis and Steven Clevenger walked. Dean Zorn then misplayed Puello’s grounder and Lewis came hustling around third with the go-ahead run.
Everett starter Anthony Butler, who was sterling in his past two starts (10 innings, one hit, 16 strikeouts), struggled to find his command.
Butler lasted just four innings, allowing four hits and five runs (two earned), walking four and striking out just one Boise hitter.
The Frogs had a two-out rally of their own in the fourth as Ogui Diaz and Reynolds banged back-to-back doubles to left to tie it at 5.
Boise took the lead back for good with two runs in the bottom of the fifth off Everett reliever Steve Richard.
Canzler hit a one-out single past Diaz and advanced to second on left fielder Dickey’s miscue. Lewis doubled off the right field wall, bringing home Canzler with the sixth Boise run. Clevenger’s single up the middle scored Lewis to make it 7-5.
The Frogs closed the gap to 7-6 with a run in the seventh. After Dickey doubled to left off Boise reliever Alessandro Maestri, two successive infield grounders brought him home.
In the ninth, Everett had a chance when a Santin hit a line-drive single and Pimentel doubled to left. Boise intentionally walked hot-hitting Peguero to load the bases, but Wu tapped a 3-1 pitch from Boise closer Michael Cooper to short to end the game.
Santin and Peguero each had three hits for the Frogs, while Dickey had a pair of extra-base hits and three runs scored.
Darin Downs notched the win for Boise, who improved to 31-24 and remained in first place in the Northwest League East Division. Cooper picked up his eighth save. Richard took the loss for Everett.
The five-game series wraps up tonight at 6:15 p.m. with right-hander Natividad Dilone (1-4, 3.71 earned-run average) starting for the Frogs and right-hander Mike Billek (2-2, 5.96) taking the mound for Boise.
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