EVERETT – The game was there for the taking. It was right in front of the Everett AquaSox’s noses. All they had to do was reach out and grab it.
However, the AquaSox instead let it hover tantalizing in front of their faces until it slipped away.
Everett left 14 runners on base Saturday night in a frustrating 4-3 Northwest League loss to the Spokane Indians before a crowd of 3,303 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Spokane’s Mike Nickeas broke a 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning, leaving the AquaSox lamenting their missed chances.
“It was extremely frustrating,” Everett manager Pedro Grifol said. “It seemed like a well-played game, a quick game. We just made way too many mental mistakes.
“We didn’t have a good game as far as executing and having quality at bats with men in scoring position,” Grifol added. “When you have men in scoring position you have to have quality at bats and we struggled with that.”
Everett (6-3) left runners on base in each of the first seven innings – and the only reason they didn’t leave any in the eighth was because Casey Craig was picked off first. The AquaSox twice left the bases loaded, and in the fifth inning Everett had one run in and runners at second and third with nobody out, but was unable to tack on any more runs.
“Give credit to them,” said Everett’s Brandon Green, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI but also was stranded four times. “They made good pitches when we had men on base. We didn’t adjust as well as we should have as a team.”
Everett’s struggles with runners on gave Nickeas the chance to be the hero. On reliever Phil Cullen’s second pitch of the game, Nickeas pulled a line drive over the left-field fence to give the Indians (6-3) the lead.
“I was just looking for something to drive in that situation and I was just trying to get on base,” Nickeas said.
“I hadn’t seen his slider yet and that’s what I hit out,” Nickeas added. “I was in the mindset to take the first pitch and get a look at his arm slot, and he may have hung that slider a little to help me out.”
Everett starting pitcher Ruben Flores, with the exception of one sticky patch in the fourth inning, was sparkling. The lanky right-hander, constantly working the outside corner, struck out eight in five innings. The three hits he surrendered were consecutive singles in the fourth that led to two runs, only one of which was earned.
Flores and relievers Chad Fillinger and Cullen combined to strike out 15 Indians. Cullen was saddled with the loss.
Spokane starter Josh Rupe pitched four innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk, striking out four. Reliever John Bannister picked up the win, working out of two bases-loaded jams in his 32/3 innings work. Jarrad Burcie got the final four outs for the save.
Everett struck first in the bottom of the third inning. Craig reached on a fielder’s choice, then Green lined deep to center. Spokane center fielder Brandon Cashman raced to the wall and leapt, but the ball thundered off the wall just over his outstretched glove. Craig scored all the way from first and Green ended up with a double as the AquaSox took a 1-0 lead.
However, Everett’s lead was short-lived as Spokane went ahead with two runs in the fourth. Kevin Mahar’s single to left scored Travis Metcalf and Bobby LeNoir’s bases-loaded walk forced home Nickeas, giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Everett tied it up in the fifth, but the AquaSox could have done a lot more damage. Trevor Heid’s double off the center-field wall scored Craig and gave Everett runners at second and third with nobody out. However, Bannister struck out Omar Falcon and Elvis Cruz, then got Oswaldo Navarro to pop up to end the threat.
Everett regained the lead in the bottom of the second thanks in large part to the wheels of Yung Chi Chen. Chen reached on an error when Spokane shortstop LeNoir momentarily bobbled a grounder, allowing Chen to beat the throw. Chen then stole second and steamed around to score on Green’s single past a diving second baseman Alex Guerra, Chen’s wide slide avoiding the tag of catcher Nickeas.
But again Everett’s lead proved short-lived as Cashman skied a solo homer to right-center in the seventh to tie it up a 3-3.
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