Jake Brodt Lifts Canadians Over Hops, 7-4
It finally came down to the rubber game and the Vancouver Canadians prevailed over the Hillsboro Hops. Jake Brodt’s sixth inning double brought Otto Lopez and Bryan Lizardo home with the lead for good. Elio Silva (W, 3-2) started for the visiting team and took the win. Four other staff-mates took one inning each to keep the hosting Hops down for the count. Connor Law (S, 3) earned the save.
The Vancouver bats drew first blood to take control. McGregory Contreras tripled, splitting Jorge Perez in left and Jake McCarthy in center and bounced to the fence. Jake Brodt and Yorman Rodriguez, who were already on base, preceded Contreras around the bases for an early 3-0 lead.
Monkey Leaves Stadium
After two solid games of being shut out by their visitors, the Hops were ready to explode. Down 3-0 in the second, the home team ended 19 consecutive innings without a score when William Gorman sent a towering blast over the right field fence 434 feet at the speed of 108 MPH. With Joey Rose and Ryan Tufts already on base and waiting, the players were more than ready to get the monkey off their back. The monkey didn’t just climb down, it went sailing into the distance as if someone had heaved a mighty throw.
Just like that, the game was tied and ready to start over again. Will Gorman doubled with the help of an error in the sixth and came home for another run on a double steal. The lead was nothing more than temporary. That became the last run scored for the home team. After that, it was all Vancouver again.
Jake Brodt Drives Lead For Good
First baseman Jake Brodt took care of that lead with his 2-RBI double. After an out, McGregory Contreras followed with another double sending Brodt home. A final score in the seventh from a double steal with runners at the corners made the final score 7-4.
Ryan Weiss started for the Hops but could not stem the flow of runs crossing the plate. Kenny Hernandez (L, 3-3) followed and three more runs crossed.
The five game series started with Hillsboro winning the first two games. With three game left to play, a goal of clinching the series with one more win seemed very obtainable. Little did anyone guess, it would be out of reach.
Standings
With the loss, the Hillsboro Hops (7-6) remain in a two-way tie for first place in the Southern Division with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (7-6) who also lost tonight. The win catapulted the Vancouver Canadians (8-5) into sole possession of first place of the Northern Division.
All-Star Game
It is time for another annual All-Star break. All Northwest League teams will use Monday as a travel day to fly to Grand Junction, Colorado to meet the Pioneer League All-Stars. After that, league play will resume on Thursday. Furthermore, counting the ASG break, the Hops will be on the road for a solid two weeks starting with a five game trip to Tri-City. The Hops will return home on August 20th, to host the Eugene Emeralds.
The Vancouver Canadians will stay on the road for a five game stay at the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes before returning home to host Tri-City.
Finally, the season ends September 3rd, almost one month from today. There are 27 games are left to play.
Boxscore
By
Greg Stoker
@GDStoker