EVERETT – The Everett AquaSox must have felt like the holdouts from a medieval castle being raided by barbarians.
The Boise Hawks put them under fire from all directions.
Whether it was the stellar pitching of Alberto Cabrera or the viciousness of the Boise bats, the AquaSox were ducking for cover Tuesday night in their 8-1 loss at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Cabrera was tossing all sorts of missiles at the AquaSox, facing the minimum number of batters during his six innings of work. Then the Boise bats added some bombs of their own, belting four home runs to consign Everett (12-16) to its third straight loss.
“It’s just one of those days,” Everett catcher Jeff Dunbar said. “Nothing really clicked today for us.”
Marquez Smith, Tony Thomas, Bill Moss and Jonathan Wyatt homered – Smith, Thomas and Moss all connecting in the same inning – as the Hawks (13-15) won their third straight.
“We played well tonight,” Boise manager Tom Beyers said. “We swung the bats well, but the key to tonight was that pitching performance by Cabrera. That was fun to watch. He’s a young kid and he’s really starting to mature.”
Indeed, Cabrera appeared talented well beyond his 18 years. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic displayed a live fastball and sharp-breaking slider in giving up just one hit and one walk in his six innings. And both those baserunners were erased on later plays – Kris Sanchez, who reached on a walk in the second inning, was caught stealing; Dunbar, who registered Everett’s first hit in the sixth, was sent back to the dugout on a double play.
Cabrera finished with eight strikeouts.
The Sox managed just four hits total, continuing a troubling offensive trend. Everett hasn’t had more than six hits in any of its past five games.
“You’ve got to give (Cabrera) some credit, but offensively right now we’re in a situation where we’re working on some things,” Everett manager Mike Tosar said. “I’ve got a feeling we’re going to break out of this pretty soon.”
Everett’s lone run couldn’t have been less consequential. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Edilio Colina tripled to the right-field corner and trotted home when pitcher Oscar Bernard misplayed a return throw from catcher Josh Donaldson.
Colina was the only Everett player with more than one hit, going 2-for-4.
While Cabrera was nearly perfect, Everett starter Rob Harmon was anything but. The righty, who’s had control issues this season, was able to get the ball over the plate. Unfortunately, the Hawks hit it hard when he did. In three innings he gave up five runs on eight hits – including the trio of Boise homers in the third – and two walks. He struck out three.
“Harmon left some balls up in the zone and they got them,” Tosar said. “They didn’t miss any of the balls up in the zone.”
As a consolation Everett got a strong performance out of the bullpen from Philip Roy. Roy tossed four scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out five.
Boise jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first. Wyatt hit a one-out single, stole second and third, then scored on Ty Wright’s two-out double off the left-field wall, making it 1-0.
In the third, the Hawks broke the big sticks out. Boise hit three homers in the inning, each one of them on a line. Moss began the barrage, leading the inning off with a solo shot to center for his first of the season. Two outs later, Smith added another solo shot, his just clearing the left-field wall for his second of the season. Finally, Thomas smacked another shot to center, his a two-run shot and his first of the season. And just like that the Sox found themselves trailing 5-0.
Boise then added another run in the eighth thanks to Everett reliever Aaron Solomon’s wildness. Solomon faced five batters, walking four. The final one, issued to Drew Rundle, forced in a run to make it 6-0.
Wyatt completed the onslaught in the ninth, belting a two-run shot to center to make it 8-0 with his second of the season.
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