EVERETT — Sometimes the baseball gods can be cruel.
If joined together, balls hit by Marwin Gonzalez and David Macias in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s game between the Everett AquaSox and Boise Hawks might have had enough juice to produce a routine flyout.
But taken separately, they became two of the uglier base hits one’s ever going to encounter, and it all added up to a nightmare for the AquaSox.
A popup lost in the sky and a broken-bat quail that traveled all of 50 feet became singles that drove in the tying and winning runs, and the Sox lost a heartbreaker to the Hawks 4-3 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
“That’s baseball,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “Sometimes you hit the ball really hard and somebody makes an outstanding play, and sometimes you hit the ball like that and get a base hit. They were lucky, but that’s part of baseball.”
Everett went into the top of the eighth leading 3-1 thanks mostly to the pitching of starter Bobby LaFromboise, who threw five shutout innings.
But it all fell apart for Everett in the eighth. With one out, Kyler Burke and Rebel Ridling smacked back-to-back doubles to cut the lead to one.
Then the fun really began. Eddy Fernandez relieved and induced a grounder that third baseman Nate Tenbrink booted, putting runners at the corners.
Javier Martinez then came on for Fernandez and struck out Michael Brenley for the second out. He then got what appeared to be the final out of the inning when Gonzalez hit a high pop to shallow left. However, left-fielder Ryan Royster couldn’t find the ball in the dusky sky, and the ball fell in for a single, tying the score.
Then came Macias, who on a 3-2 pitch had his bat sawed off. However, the ball floated just over Martinez’s glove. Tenbrink raced over and tried to make a barehanded play, but couldn’t palm the ball cleanly, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
“I think that’s what’s been happening in the series,” Boise manager Tom Beyers said. “(Tuesday) night the kid (Everett’s Kevin Reynolds) got the game-winning hit on a soft dunker over the third baseman’s head. The hitters are up there battling. They’re trying to put the ball in play and when you put the ball in play things happen. You force the opponents to make mistakes and they made a couple in that inning.”
Everett made a play to tie it in the ninth, advancing a runner to third. But John Muller struck out Royster to end the game.
Muller got the final four outs of the game for his third save of the season. Harol Tolentino earned the win for the Hawks (4-5) with four solid innings of relief, while Ridling led the offense by going 3-for-5.
Reynolds and Travis Howell each had two hits to lead Everett (4-5). Fernandez suffered the loss, despite facing just one batter.
“It was a tough one,” Moreno said. “All game we were doing the little things to win the ballgame. We didn’t hit enough, but piching-wise Bobby did a great job keeping us in the game. Then Fernandez and Martinez did everything we asked. Our defense struggled today and that’s part of the game, but it’s a tough one.”
It was a cruel fate for the Sox, and LaFromboise in particular. LaFromboise played the role of the crafty lefty to a tee, perplexing the Hawks without overpowering them. In his five innings he allowed just three hits, one walk and struck out four, a stark contrast to his first start when he gave up seven hits and four runs in three innings.
Wednesday also marked the professional debut of Everett pitcher Steven Hensley. Hensley, the Seattle Mariners’ fourth-round pick in the June draft making him the highest selection on Everett’s roster, had an up-and-down first appearance. At times he showed good command of his slider (three strikeouts in 21/3 innings), and at times he was hit hard (giving up four doubles, including one to Josh Vitters on his first pitch as a pro).
The rubber game of the five-game series is tonight.
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