Jairo Pomares hit two home runs in the game.  The last one in the ninth inning with one out to tie the game.  Armani Smith previously walked to lead off the inning to make up the two run deficit.  The Hillsboro Hops failed to have a comeback of their own in the bottom of the ninth and lost to the Eugene Emeralds 6-5.

Logan Wyatt Creates and Secures Lead for Win

The game looked like it was going into extra innings.  But, before Hops pitcher Nick Snyder (L, 2-7) could get out of the inning, Marco Luciano singled followed by Logan Wyatt’s RBI double to take the lead.  Now, the Hops faced a deficit in the ninth for their turn at the plate.

Chris Wright closed the ninth for the Ems.  Ronny Simon and Blaze Alexander led off with back to back strikeouts.  Tristin English resurrected some hope with a two-out single but their comeback fizzled with a pop foul by AJ Vukovich.  First baseman Logan Wyatt closed his glove and the game was over.  Wyatt not only brought home the go ahead run but also closed the door on the Hops to make it the winning run.

Jairo Pomares Throws Out Vukovich from Left Field

The Hops led through most of the game.  Both teams struck early and then quieted down for the middle innings.  In fact, from the fifth through the eighth inning, not only were there no runs but only two hits.  Both by the Hops.  They were both singles and ironically ended the same way.  Blaze Alexander was erased by a double play.  AJ Vukovich was erased trying to stretch his single into a double.  A sharp, on-target throw by left fielder Jairo Pomares sealed his fate.

Most of the scoring was over after the fourth inning.  The score, 5-3, remained until Eugene scored three runs in the ninth for the final score.  But, before the pitcher clamped down on the plate for four innings, runs came easy and often

Jairo Pomares’ First Home Run

For Eugene, there was some variance but not much.  Ismael Mungia reached base on an error and scored on Armani Smith’s sac fly in the first.  Then, Mungia tripled and came home on Smith’s RBI single in the third.  Finally, Jairo Pomares hit the first of his two homers for a solo shot in the fourth.

After Jairo Pomares’ Home Run, Hops retire 15 Straight Batters

Hops starter Blake Walston allowed all three runs but still was able to maintain a lead and some control over the game.  He left the game after the fifth when reaching 69 pitches of his 70-pitch count.  Reliever Austin Pope (H, 1) pitched no-hit ball for three more innings.  After Pomares’ first home run, Hops’ pitching retired the next 15 batters.

The Hops, on the other hand, were a bit more aggressive.  They outhit the Emeralds 12-7.  Their difficulty lay in getting the base runners home.  Ten Base runners were left standing at the end of the innings.  That’s not counting two base runners reaching base on errors.  But, that is also not counting Ronny Simon caught stealing or Blaze Alexander erased by a double play after his single.

Despite all of that, the Hops did manage to bring enough runners home to lead most of the game.  Alexander doubled and came home with Tristin English on his tenth home run of the year in the first inning.  Nick Dalesandro reached base on a fielding error and scored on Axel Andueza’s RBI double in the second.

Cam Coursey Hits Fourth Triple in Six Days

Finally, Cam Coursey hit another triple.  This one to add to his three consecutives games of hitting a triple.  His fourth in six days.  Coursey increased his team lead to five for the season and is one away from the team’s season record.  But, tonight Coursey led off with his triple and scored  easily on Dalesandro’s RBI double.  Two singles later and four consecutive hits, Andueza brought Dalesandro home with his RBI single.

Eugene starter Jake Dahlberg allowed all five of those runs but only four were earned.  Hops batters made him expend 89 pitches over 3.1 innings with patience at the plate.  Austin Reich, Travis Perry (W, 10-1) and Chris Wright (S, 13) combined to shut down the Hops for the rest of the game.

The Hops had a golden opportunity to increase their lead in the eighth based on two walks and a hit batter to load the bases with two outs but failed to cross the plate.  Something the Emeralds batters succeeded in the very next inning.

Standings

The league has pretty much bunched up into two halves.  The top half consists of Everett, Eugene and Spokane.  The bottom half contains Vancouver, Hillsboro and Tri City.

The win helped the Eugene Emeralds (59-45) take over the lead in the top half by switching places with Everett who lost tonight.  Spokane won and stayed within a game and a half of Eugene.

The loss dropped the Hillsboro Hops (45-57) to two and a half games behind Vancouver for fourth place.  Tri City remains three and half games behind Hillsboro in sixth place.

Eugene and Hillsboro meet again for game#2 Wednesday night at 7 PM.  If you can’t make the game, you can watch it on MiLB.tv, listen on 620 AM radio or follow me on Twitter for half inning updates.  You will find my Twitter handle below.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker