EVERETT — For the first time all night, Evan Truitt was in trouble.

The Eugene Emeralds had scored a couple of runs off the Everett AquaSox starter at Everett Memorial Stadium on Saturday, but the 23-year-old righty was strong through four innings and had a 4-2 lead to protect entering the fifth. However, Truitt allowed catcher Daniel Rogers and outfielder Jose Ramos to lead off the inning with back-to-back base hits, leaving the two runners on second and third with no outs and the top of the Emeralds order due up.

For Truitt, the situation didn’t matter. His mindset never wavered.

“Just keep competing and throwing strikes,” Truitt said. “Just not trying to do too much and making things too complicated on myself. Just keep it simple and fill up the zone, and let the defense make plays.”

He ended up putting extra emphasis on the last part.

Eugene infielder Isaiah Barkett sent a grounder to shortstop Axel Sanchez, who looked off Rogers at third before securing the first out, but infielder Jhonny Level sent a ball to right field that seemed certain to bring a run in via sacrifice fly.

Carlos Jimenez had other plans.

The AquaSox outfielder unleashed a throw to home plate, and catcher Luke Stevenson applied the tag to a sliding Rogers, preventing the run from scoring and ending the inning. Stevenson pumped his fist, and Truitt pointed out to Jimenez from behind home plate before walking back to the dugout. Jimenez knew he would get the out as soon as the ball left his hand.

“We work on it. (We) throw to bases three, four times a week,” Jimenez said, with help translating from AquaSox bench coach Logan Moore and his wife, Maria. “It’s something that we’re always constantly working on.”

On the back of strong relief pitching, Everett (50-45 overall, 17-12 second-half) would not allow another run in a 6-2 win against the Emeralds (57-38, 15-14), taking sole possession of first place in the Northwest League standings over Spokane (16-13).

After Truitt finished with six hits allowed and four strikeouts in five innings, Reid Easterly pitched two perfect innings with five strikeouts, and Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman allowed one hit and two walks over two scoreless frames to finish the game. Outfielder Aiden Taurek went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Jimenez continued his strong month of July by going 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

The 23-year-old from Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic is slashing an absurd .439/.508/.737 this month with four home runs, 15 RBI and eight walks against 11 strikeouts. Jimenez said he’s felt good about his timing on fastballs, and that his overall routine has allowed him to dominate on pitches in the zone.

“I try to maintain the control by having my routine,” Jimenez said. “And don’t let pressure take over that. … The results, you can see, because I’ve been working (on) that.”

Truitt did not provide much for the Eugene batters to hit in the first two innings, but they made the most of what they were given. Infielder Hayden Jatczak hit a solo home run in the top of the first, but Truitt retired the other three batters in the frame. Infielder Zander Darby led off the top of the second with a double, and Rogers scored him with an RBI single to make it 2-0, but Truitt struck out each of the other three batters.

“That was just how it played out,” Truitt said about getting more contact in the first inning and strikeouts in the second. “Like I said, just trying to keep it simple and fill the zone up, and when I get to two strikes, just make a pitch and get a strikeout.”

The AquaSox rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second. Taurek and infielder Luis Suisbel hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie it 2-2. After taking the first pitch for a strike, Suisbel fouled off five pitches and let three balls pass to bring it up to a full count before finally sending a line drive to center on the 10th pitch.

“It’s telling of (Suisbel’s) at-bats lately,” Everett manager Ryan Scott said. “Everything he’s been doing so far since a couple weeks ago… something with his intent, and I think not necessarily in his work — not necessarily he was working harder — but there’s some more intent. There’s some more, probably, direction in the work he was doing, and you’re seeing that show up a lot more in his at-bats. All of his at-bats tonight, but that one (in the second) was a true indicator of the work he’s been doing.”

The AquaSox grabbed the lead when Sanchez grounded into a fielder’s choice as Taurek scored from third, and Truitt faced just seven batters across the third and fourth innings, continuing to limit the Emeralds’ opportunities at the plate. Sanchez padded the lead to 4-2 in the fourth with an RBI double to left field to score infielder Carter Dorighi, who legged out an infield single right before him.

After Truitt escaped the fifth inning unscathed, Easterly stepped in to pitch a 1-2-3 sixth. Jimenez reached base for the third straight time with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, and Taurek ultimately brought him home to extend the lead to 5-2 with an infield single that he secured with a slide into first.

Easterly returned for the seventh inning, where he struck out the side, and Mariners infielder Brendan Donovan finally recorded his first hit of his rehab assignment, breaking an 0-for-24 skid across seven games at three different minor league levels since July 15 to put runners on the corners with no outs. Stevenson pushed it to 6-2 with an RBI double.

Donovan (1-for-26, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP) will be in the AquaSox lineup one last time on Sunday before returning to Seattle next week, according to Scott.

“(Donovan) is really focused on his process and what he’s doing, and likes to focus on that, but it’s always good to see some results here and there,” Scott said. “So I know he was fired up to get a single through there, and he’s been putting in a ton of work. His work and his focus that he has when he’s been here on the rehab assignment has been a phenomenal example for a lot of our young guys.”

Lunsford-Shenkman allowed two runners to reach base in the eighth, but he got Jatczak to ground into an inning-ending double with a couple of quick throws from Sanchez and second baseman Ricardo Cova. Lunsford-Shenkman returned for the ninth and secured the win by striking out designated hitter Robert Hipwell.

Everett will try to close out the series with a win on Sunday before heading on the road to Hillsboro on Tuesday.