EVERETT — It turns out the Everett AquaSox are vincible at home after all.
The Eugene Emeralds broke a deadlock with a three-run rally in the fifth inning, and the AquaSox suffered their first home loss in nearly two weeks, falling 7-4 Monday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Everett had won nine straight at home, a streak dating back to Aug. 4. But the Emeralds scored four runs before the Sox even came to the plate, and then rallied again after Everett fought back to tie it.
And just as the AquaSox slugged their was past Eugene the previous day with four homers, the Emeralds returned the favor Monday with three of their own. Blake Tekotte’s shot leading off the fifth broke a 4-4 tie, and the Emeralds prevented an Everett sweep in the three-game series.
“It was a tough loss right there,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “We had a few mistakes. We left the ball up in the zone. Any time you leave the ball in a hitter’s spot you’re going to get hurt.”
Ryan Hill and Cole Figueroa added back-to-back homers in the top of the first inning as the Emeralds jumped out to an early 4-0 lead the Sox could never quite overcome.
“We lost the league’s leading RBI hitter (Sawyer Carroll) just before this road trip to promotion, so (the power surge) was good,” Eugene manager Greg Riddoch said.
“We haven’t played well this road trip,” Riddoch added. “This eight-day road trip we won two and lost six, we were 19-3 prior to that. During this road trip it’s been spotty pitching and spotty defense, so it was good to play well tonight and not beat ourselves.”
Brandon Fromm, Jharmidy DeJesus and Travis Howell each had two hits to lead Everett (27-34), which missed out on an opportunity to gain ground on West Division-leading Salem-Keizer. The Sox remained 51/2 games behind the Volcanoes, who lost 4-3 to Spokane on Monday, with 15 games remaining.
Meanwhile, Eugene (31-30) closed within a game-and-a-half of Salem-Keizer in the three-way race for first.
Despite losing, the Sox still showed some fight, battling back to tie it at 4-4. Then Everett brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth before Nick Schumacher registered the final out for his first save. The Sox are going to need more of that fight if they hope to reach the postseason.
“I like the way we’ve been playing,” Moreno said. “We never quit, we battled back, we had the tying run at the plate in the last inning, and nothing’s over yet. We’ll take the day off (today) and then come back with the same energy and see if we can win the ball games.”
Doug Salinas, receiving a spot start for the Sox, ended up taking the loss. The right-hander pitched well in the middle three innings of his outing, but struggled on either end and took the loss after being charged for all seven runs. He’s now 1-6.
The Emeralds tattooed Salinas in the top of the first. Salinas got two quick outs before giving up back-to-back singles to James Darnell and Matt Clark. Hill and Figueora followed with back-to-back homers to right, and just like that Eugene led 4-0.
Everett quickly responded in the bottom of the inning. Fromm lined an RBI single past a diving Beamer Weems at short, then Welington Dotel blooped a two-run single to center, pulling the Sox within one at 4-3.
Everett then tied it in the fourth, DeJesus lining a double to the left-center gap, scoring Manelik Pimentel from first to make it 4-4.
But Eugene surged back ahead in the fifth. Tekotte led off with a home run, then after Salinas and reliever Marquis Pettis conspired to walk the bases loaded with two out, Bobby Verbick grounded a sharp single off the glove of diving first baseman Nate Tenbrink, restoring the Emeralds lead to 7-4.
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