Brandon Pfaadt pitched seven scoreless innings to take the win for the Hillsboro Hops over the Tri City Dust Devils 4-1.  A last minute solo shot by Kenyon Yovan broke up the shut out.

Spencer Brickhouse Towering Shot Repeat

The Hops managed to score a lone run in the fourth to break up the monotony of zeroes on the scoreboard.  After that, it was looking like maybe one run would win the game.  The Hops made that point moot when they broke open for three more runs in the seventh.

Spencer Brickhouse sent a two-out solo shot over the left field fence early to establish the lead for the Hops 1-0 in the fourth.  It wasn’t quite the towering shot that cleared the Blue Monster in center field earlier in the series.  But, it did come within ten feet of clearing the netting behind the right field fence.  Brickhouse is now tied with Eduardo Diaz for the team lead (9) in home runs.

Hops Scoring Spree

The seventh started out much different.  Dust Devils starter Robinson Pina (L,2-5) left the game after 75 pitches and his team behind 1-0.  Despite the loss, giving up the Brickhouse homer, Pina pitched an excellent game throwing nine strikeouts and faced 20 batters in only six innings.

Zach Linginfelter came on in relief for the seventh inning and allowed the first three Hops batters to single.  Brickhouse, Blaze Alexander and Tristin English used a combination of poke-thrus and infield hits to reach base.  When Danny Oriente came to the plate, Linginfelter walked him with the bases loaded.  After a Hops’ strikeout, Leodany Perez reached first on an error but it had the same effect as a two-run RBI single.

With Four Runs, 87 Pitches, Brandon Pfaadt Pitched (Partial) Shut Out

And now, the Hops were up 4-0.  Six batters and three runs called for a change and Ivan Armstrong came in to stop the bleeding.  One pitch and an inning-ending double play later and the Dust Devils were out of a jam.

The Dust Devils lone run came in the ninth with one out.  Kenyon Yovan, local Westview High graduate, hit a long fly ball towards left.  Diaz tried to chase it but it cleared the fence for the home run to end the shutout.

Brandon Pfaadt Pitched Strong First

Brandon’s first inning was more of the same when he threw a complete game shutout.  Three batters came to the plate.  Seven pitches later, with a pop up, grounder and a strikeout, Brandon Pfaadt (W, 3-4) was heading to the dugout with confidence.

Then, Brandon ran into some control issues.  Pfaadt did face the minimum three batters in the first inning and the last three innings he took the mound.  Though the sixth consisted of a single, the runner was erased by a double play.

The other innings weren’t so easy.  The second featured 18 pitches, a single and a hit batter.  The third consisted of a walk and a wild pitch.  Finally, the fourth showed another hit batter who was erased by a fielder’s choice.  But, Brandon held his ground and pitched himself out of the innings.  By the fifth, Brandon had his legs underneath him and cruising.

Standings

The win kept the Hillsboro Hops (35-42) on pace with Everett who also won tonight.  Closer to home, the Hops did gain on Spokane who are now only two and a half games ahead of the Hops.  The Tri City Dust Devils lost ground on both Everett (20.5 games behind) and Vancouver (four games behind).

The Hops take the six-game series 4-2.  After a Monday off, The Hops will travel to the Vancouver Canadians to play at Ron Tonkin Field.  In other words, the Hops will be playing on the road in their own park.  Because of the border restrictions between Canada and the US, the Canadians are sharing the Tonk for a home field with the Hops.  Despite their reversal of roles, the Hops will remain in their first base side dugout.  The Canadians have been using the third base dugout when hosting.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker