It had to happen. The slumbering bats of the Hillsboro Hops finally woke up like a beast rising from the atomic blast of the previous two games. It was more than the Spokane Indians could handle as the Hops defeated the Indians 8-5.

Before the bats took effect, some strange events happened to ease the way for the Hops batters. Starting pitcher for Spokane, CD Pelham, was pulled after only one and a third innings after allowing six walks, four runs and… no hits? Thanks to a throwing error by catcher Carlos Garay, a fielding error by first baseman Curtis Terry and a wild pitch by Pelham, an early path led the way to the showers. The biggest damage however were the walks. Of the ten batters Pelham faced, he walked six of them.

It didn’t take long for the Hops bats to start helping. Kevin Lenik replaced Pelham on the mound and faced Mark Karaviotis for his first batter. Mark, who has been hot lately, sent a single into left. The floodgates started to open. Before the inning was through, Luke Lowery and Alexis Olmeda also singled. The score was now 6-0 as the Hops scored five runs in the second.

Spokane did its best to keep up with the Hops but the poor play in the first two innings made the gap too large to close. The Indians did manage to score single runs in the fourth and fifth but the Hops answered back with two more in the sixth for an 8-2 lead. Spokane did the last damage, scoring three runs in the ninth trying one last gasp effort. The game ended with Luis Terrero striking out representing the tying run at the plate.

It was a sigh of relief as the first two games of the series were devastating for the Hops, losing two games by a total score of 20-1. While the 8-5 win tonight regained some of that deficit, the real prize was the lifting of the weight off the shoulders of the batters allowing the slumber of the lumber to waken.

Starting Hops pitcher Anfernee Benitez (W, 7-5) lasted five innings for the win. Benitez gave up two runs on seven hits. Striking out only two, Anfernee maintained his second place in the league standings for number of strike outs for the year (71). First place still belongs to teammate Tyler Mark with 74. Former Hops pitcher Carlos Hernandez holds the league record with 93.  Jake Winston and Connor Grey combined for three scoreless innings allowing just three hits. Kevin Ginkel closed the ninth and was able to preserve the win despite allowing three more runs.

The Hops still lost to the Indians in hits, 13-12, but it was still a marked improvement over the last two nights. Several shined during the game. Ben DeLuzio went 3 for 4 and scored three runs. Jason Morozowski blasted a two run homer in the sixth with DeLuzio on base. Alexis Olmeda hit 3 for 4 and knocked in the winning run with his single in the second. Mark Karaviotis singled and scored the winning run. Luke Lowery had two hits. Luis Veras doubled to lead off the ninth. Justin Chigbogu singled in the third, walked and scored in the second.

CD Pelham (L, 0-6) took the loss. Kevin Lenik and Johan Juan tried to slow the bleeding but still allowed two more runs each. Tyler Stubblefield pitched the last two innings as the only Indians pitcher to keep the Hops scoreless.

Despite the loss, the Spokane bats actually spoke louder with thirteen hits. Chad Smith had three hits and two doubles. Anderson Tejado was the other Indian to have three hits. Charles LeBlanc and Luis Terrero both had two hits. Seth Spivey doubled home three runs. Leody Taveras and Carlos Garay also singled.

The Hillsboro Hops (20-13) maintained four games back of Eugene with the win. The Hops have five more games to try and catch the division leader. The loss dropped the Spokane Indians (11-22) a game back of third place Vancouver.

Both teams will meet at Avista Stadium Thursday at 6:35 pm for the fourth game of the five game series. Spokane leads it 2-1. LHP Mack Lemieux (1-2) is expected to start for the Hops. RHP Tyler Phillips (3-7) will take the mound for the Indians.

Boxscore

By Greg Stoker
@GDStoker