EVERETT – When Mike Wilson came to the plate in the eighth inning Saturday night, all he was trying to do was find some way – any way – of driving in the go-ahead run from third base.
Well Wilson did just that, and a whole lot more.
Needing to do little more than make contact to give the Everett AquaSox the lead, Wilson hit a grand slam, giving the AquaSox a 10-6 victory over the Tri-City Dust Devils in a Northwest League game.
“It felt good,” Wilson said. “It couldn’t have happened at a better time. That was a beautiful home run.
“I was just trying to get the RBI in,” Wilson added. “I was thinking, ‘Just get a piece.’ “
Before an Everett Memorial Stadium crowd of 3,481, Wilson took a one-out, 0-1 slider from Adam Bright way out to left-center, breaking a 6-6 tie. It was Wilson’s second homer of the season.
“I was kind of looking for an offspeed pitch,” Wilson said. “I hadn’t seen a fastball all night, and the last at-bat (against Bright) all he threw were changes and sliders. So I was sitting offspeed – which maybe you shouldn’t do – and visualized it happening.”
Everett (23-13) twice came from three runs down to tie it before Wilson’s homer won it. The victory was Everett’s third straight and seventh in the AquaSox’s last eight games. Tri-City fell to 19-17.
“I think it was a big confidence builder when we were in Eugene (where the AquaSox won five of six),” Wilson said. “We’re feeling confident, we’re doing what we do, we’re competing and we never give up.”
In the eighth, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a walk and Brandon Green singled to left center, moving Cabrera to third. After Marshall Hubbard struck out, Trevor Heid grounded to third. Tri-City third baseman Matt Macri tried to tag Cabrera, who was caught off third base. However, Cabrera dove for the bag and was called safe, leaving the bases loaded and drawing the ire of Macri. Wilson did the rest.
Cibney Bello earned the victory with two perfect innings of relief to improve to 3-1. He and Vance Hall, who threw 21/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowed the AquaSox to claw back into the game after falling behind 6-3.
Bright took the loss to fall to 3-2.
Everett starting pitcher Aaron Jensen struggled. The right-hander, who came into the game 4-1, lasted just 42/3 innings, giving up six runs on 11 hits and three walks. He struck out two.
Tri-City starter Jarrett Grube went 51/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits, walking none and striking out six.
Trailing 6-3, the AquaSox pulled one run back in the sixth when Yung Chi Chen singled, stole second, and advanced to third when catcher Rick Guarno’s throw ricocheted off Chen into the outfield. Chen scored on Green’s infield single to cut the deficit to two.
Everett tied the score in the seventh. Omar Falcon singled off Bright’s legs and Casey Craig walked. Oswaldo Navarro, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, poked a single just past second baseman Erik Dean to score Falcon from second, and Craig came around on Chen’s RBI fielder’s choice, knotting the score at 6-6.
Tri-City scored first in the top of the first inning. Dean singled to right and Macri followed with a ground ball just inside third base. Dean scored from first on Macri’s double to make it 1-0.
The Dust Devils made it 3-0 in the third when Jud Thigpen’s high fly ball to right center just kept drifting and drifting and eventually cleared the fence for a two-run homer. It was Thigpen’s sixth homer of the season.
Everett tied it up in the bottom of the third. Falcon led off with a single and advanced to third on Craig’s double. Navarro followed by pulling a double down the third-base line to drive in two runs. Navarro later scored on Cabrera’s RBI groundout to short, tying it up at 3-3.
Tri-City regained the lead in the fourth. Guarno led off with a double to the left-center wall, advanced to third on Brett Spivey’s single and scored on Dean’s sacrifice fly to center, making it 4-3.
The Dust Devils pushed the lead back to three in the fifth when Joseph Koshansky hit a two-run homer to right. His sixth of the season increased the lead to 6-3.
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