Kristian Robinson carried the Hillsboro Hops to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.  The load Robinson carried is light as his shoulders keep belting out the home runs.

Robinson Belted 500 Foot Home Run

Tonight, Robinson swatted his 9th out of the park for an amazing 500 feet almost clearing the berm in left field.  Kristian also recorded his 34th RBI of the season putting him in sole possession of first in the league. Total, KRobbie went 2 for 4 with a single knocking in two run.

The star didn’t carry the weight alone.  Jesus Marriaga remained hot going 2 for 5 with an RBI.  David Garza continued from the night before with a 2 for 3 game that included two runs scored.  In all, Hops batters connected on nine hits for the game. As in the previous night, the Hops safely hit in all but one inning.  The score could easily have been higher when you consider the nine walks and 13 runners left on base.

The Volcanos’ batter weren’t far behind.  In fact, they drew the first blood scoring one run in the third.  The visiting bats knocked six hits to reach base but, like the Hops, left more on base than they brought home with three walks and 9 LOB.

Scoring Could Have Been Higher

The LOB trauma is a credit for both pitching staffs.  Several times, the bases loaded up for either side but fine pitching protected the plate better than weatherproofing except for one time.  The Hops Yaramil Hiraldo (H, 2) relieved the winning pitcher, Deyni Olivero (W, 5-1) with the bases loaded and struck out the Volcanoes’ Tyler Fitzgerald to end the inning without a score.  Hillsboro’s save leader, Bryan Menedez (S, 7), came in on the ninth and struck out three straight batters to end the game.

For Salem-Keizer, starting pitcher Conor Nurse (L, 0-1) faced down six Hops batters and bases loaded keeping home plate safe.  But, in the fifth, Chris Roberts came in to relieve Nurse with the bases loaded. Roberts did allow two RBIs when Kristian Robinson carried a two RBI single to right field, the one time runners did score with bases loaded.

New Bullpen Door

The game recap could not end without mentioning the new door to the Hops bullpen.  In the top of the third, Volcano 2B Jeff Houghtby slugged a hard hit toward CF Jorge Barrosa and the warning track.  Barrosa’s legs carried him to the ball and put leather on the solid hit for the catch. Until, Barrosa hit the wall just to the right of the Blue Monster in center and then… disappeared!  The ball stayed behind on the center field turf for a double. Barrosa re-entered the playing field from the bullpen thru the newly found exit in the fence. Jorge showed no injury on the play and stayed in the game.

Standings

The win gave the Hillsboro Hops (2-0) sole possession of first place with a one game lead over the Boise Hawks and Eugene Emeralds.  The loss dropped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (0-2) to two games behind the Hops.

Both teams will meet again at RonTonkin Field for the third and final game of the series.  Consequently, Luis Frias (2-2) will take the mound for the Hops. In his last outing on Saturday, Frias went five innings with eight strike-outs for the victory.  In his last six games, Frias totaled 51 strike-outs to average 8.5 K’s per outing. Luis leads the league with 62 punch-outs. On the other hand, second place isn’t even close at 18 K’s behind.

The Volcanoes have yet to name a starter.

Furthermore, stay with the Minor League Sports Reports for game recaps throughout the season.  In addition, follow me on Twitter for half inning updates on every home game.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker