No relief for AquaSox in 8-2 loss to Yakima

Herald staff

YAKIMA – How do you spell relief?

Everett AquaSox manager Terry Pollreisz is still trying to figure that out. He watched the Sox bullpen put the team into another hole that the offense couldn’t dig out of, resulting in an 8-2 loss to the Yakima Bears on Saturday.

The loss drops Everett’s record back below the .500 mark, to 9-10 overall. The AquaSox are currently 2 1/2 games behind Vancouver in the Northwest League North Division. Yakima improved to 12-7 and is tied for first place in the South Division.

Everett’s undoing came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Yakima sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs to break up a 1-1 tie.

AquaSox starting pitcher Phil Cullen, pitching beyond the fourth inning for the first time this season, walked his first man of the game to lead off the sixth.

Next batter, Yakima’s Bodie Simpson, hit a double over Miguel Richardson’s head to give the Bears runners at second and third with nobody out.

Mike Uggla followed with an RBI single to end Cullen’s evening and give Yakima a 2-1 lead.

Sox reliever Daniel Head surrendered an RBI single to the first batter he faced to make it a 3-1 Yakima advantage, and Eric Macha also singled before Head finally recorded an out by striking out Sneider Santos.

Dwight Edge kept the good times rolling for Yakima in the sixth with another run-scoring single to make it 4-1 in favor of Yakima.

The Bears roughed up another Sox reliever in the bottom of the eighth inning to the tune of four more runs on four hits.

With Erick Swanson now on the mound for Everett, the Bears received a one-out RBI single from Reinaldo Barrera and a two-out single from Richie Barrett for a 6-1 Yakima lead.

Joseph Yakopich capped the evening’s scoring with a two-run single off Swanson for a comfortable 8-2 cushion in favor of the Bears.

Everett had plenty of chances to score, stranding 11 baserunners in the game.

Trailing 4-1 in the top of the seventh, Everett had the bases loaded with one out but were unable to push a run across, as the next two batters struck out swinging.