EVERETT — The game slipped away from the Everett AquaSox against the first Eugene Emeralds batter at Everett Memorial Stadium on Sunday. Rather, it slipped from starting pitcher Walter Ford’s hand.

The 21-year-old righty’s third pitch of the afternoon misfired up into Eugene leadoff batter Isaiah Barkett’s face, dropping him straight to the dirt as trainers from both teams rushed onto the field to tend to him. A large streak of blood was visible on the back of his left arm from when he went to cover his face on the ground, and a trainer had to hold a bloody towel to his face as they walked back to the clubhouse. Infielder Zane Zielinski took his place on first base.

Ford immediately ripped his cap off and walked off the mound, clearly frustrated that the pitch got away from him and remorseful for the injury it caused. After a quick chat with catcher Matthew Ellis, Ford got back onto the mound.

“Biggest thing is really just to get back in there,” AquaSox manager Ryan Scott said. “Obviously tough to hit that first guy and the way that it happened, and those ones are always tough, and those can sit with you a little bit emotionally. … For Walt, it’s just continue to get back in there and show a little fight and try to get himself out of that.”

Emeralds infielder Jhonny Level grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out, but each of the next seven Eugene batters reached base, scoring five runs. By the time it reached the top of the order again, Scott had seen enough. Ford’s day was done after 2/3 of an inning, and Jose Geraldo entered to strike out Zielinski and send it to the bottom of the first.

Everett (50-46 overall, 17-13 second-half) brought the deficit down to 6-3 by the end of the third inning, but the Emeralds (58-38, 16-14) scored two more insurance runs before exploding with a nine-run ninth inning en route to a 17-3 win to wrap up the series.

“There’s really no telling if that’s something that kind of affected him this outing,” Scott said. “I guess it did, just knowing the guy Walter is and the person he is, it probably does affect him a bit. He did still make some pitches. He got not necessarily unlucky, but he got a double play ball right after that and we just weren’t able to turn it and the guy got down the line.”

Seven different players pitched for the AquaSox, including infielder Carter Dorighi at the end of the game. Ellis finished 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk, and outfielder Korbyn Dickerson went 2-for-4. Seattle Mariners infielder Brendan Donovan (groin) finished his rehab slate by going 1-for-5 while also making a leaping catch at the wall in right field. The 29-year-old is expected to return to Seattle this week after going 2-for-31 (.065) in eight rehab appearances since July 15, five of which were with Everett.

Eugene’s five-run rally in the top of the first started with a single from infielder Hayden Jatczak to put runners on the corners. Outfielder Lisbel Diaz drove the first run in with a double, and infielder Zander Darby followed it up with a three-run homer to center to extend the lead to 4-0. A single from outfielder Jose Astudillo and a walk from designated hitter Robert Hipwell put two more runners on, but Ellis picked off Hipwell at first for the second out. Emeralds catcher Onil Perez doubled to left field to make it 5-0, and Ford walked outfielder Jose Ramos before Geraldo replaced him to pick up the final out.

“It feels good for sure,” said Ellis, who caught a runner stealing second later in the game and applied a tag at home for the last out in the top of the ninth. “All the credit to the teammates, they made the catches and tags, got the outs, so that was very nice on their part. It’s just getting back into the swing of things, I think that’s my sixth game catching this year, so it’s just trying to get back into the swing of things and help the pitching staff as much as I can.”

The AquaSox managed to close the gap in the bottom of the first when infielder Brandon Eike hit his 20th homer of the season to become the Northwest League leader. The 24-year-old sent a two-run blast over the tallest part of the scoreboard in right-center to cut it to 5-2, but Level answered right back for Eugene in the top of the second with a leadoff solo home run to make it 6-2.

The Emeralds threatened to tack on more runs when Astudillo and Hipwell led off the top of the third with back-to-back singles, but Everett reliever Ben Hernandez retired each of the next three batters in his return from the Injured List. The 2026 season has been stop-and-start for the 25-year-old righty, who missed over a month from late April into late May with elbow inflammation before hitting the shelf again on June 16 with a Grade 1 strain in his shoulder.

Despite the injury struggles, Hernandez said he felt like he never left when he returned to pitch some live at-bats on Wednesday, and it showed on Sunday. He lowered his ERA to 1.17 in 15 1/3 innings across 11 appearances, and is holding opposing hitters to a .154 average.

“It feels good to compete again with the guys,” Hernandez said. “Unfortunate the way it turned out today, but I’m feeling good, feeling strong, feeling healthy. Definitely a long journey for me, but very glad I was able to be here with the guys.”

Ellis cut it to 6-3 in the bottom of the third with a home run, his third in as many games that he’s been in the lineup, but Perez pushed the Eugene lead to 7-3 with an RBI groundout in the fifth, and Darby extended it to 8-3 with an RBI single in the sixth. The AquaSox put runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh, but Dickerson lined out to end the frame.

Scoring slowed down until the ninth inning, where the Emeralds erupted for a two-out rally.

Zielinski drove in two runs with a double to make it 10-3, and Everett reliever Gabriel Sosa walked the next two batters to load the bases. Diaz hit a grounder that bounced off second baseman Axel Sanchez’s glove and into the outfield to allow two more runs to score on the error, and Dorighi took over on the mound right after.

Despite getting Darby to make soft contact for what should have been an inning-ending groundout, another error from Sanchez allowed Darby to reach safely as another run scored to make it 13-3.

Astudillo followed that with an RBI single to center, and Hipwell crushed a three-run shot to clear the bases for the 17-3 final. The last out mercifully came on a throw from outfielder Anthony Donofrio to get Perez at the plate after a Ramos single. Eugene reliever Ryan Slater went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to wrap things up.

Of the seven AquaSox players who pitched on Sunday, Hernandez was the only one to not allow a run. It’s never ideal for a starter to exit early, but having it happen on the final game of the week can make things especially dicey for a taxed pitching staff.

“Biggest thing is hopefully we have enough arms available in that situation. … We got another 8 1/3 (innings) to cover. Those ones are always tough,” Scott said. “Luckily we did have enough arms available tonight. We just got to that point in the ninth inning to where it was just kind of time to bring in a position player and not really bring in another arm just to try to get that one out when we’re already chasing seven, eight, nine runs.”

Everett won just two of the six games in the homestand, and the team is tied with the Spokane Indians atop the Northwest League second-half standings as it enters a road series against the Hillsboro Hops beginning on Tuesday.