Kristian Robinson led the way as the Hillsboro Hops took a page from their win Saturday night instead of Sunday’s loss.  The Hops batters swung hard and often leaving the Boise Hawks behind in their dust, 8-2.

Magic Inning

Like Saturday’s game, there was one inning that everything went right for the home team.  The fourth inning was tonight’s source of conquering swings and opportunistic base running.  The inning started out with a 2-0 lead and when it ended six runs later, the Hops stood tall with a 8-0 lead

Eleven Hops came to the plate in the fourth.  It resulted in two doubles, five singles, one walk, one hit batter, one error and a passed ball.  Half of the runs occurred after there were two outs. Eight runs would prove to be more than enough to coast the rest of the way.  Good thing, too. For the Hops would not score again for the rest of the afternoon.

In those first four innings, the Hops accomplished quite a bit.  Every single Hop swatted at least one hit.  Kristian Robinson hit safely twice, including his no-doubt home run to left field in the third.  Robinson and Jesus Marriaga scored twice in the game. Marriaga and Steven Leyton both hit doubles.

End Game

But it would soon dry up.  After the fourth inning completed, the Hops generated one more hit the rest of the game: Tristin English’s double in the sixth.  After the fourth, four Boise pitchers paraded over the mound for one inning each and put zeros on the scoreboard.

The Hops pitching staff did them better.  It started with the starter: Luis Frias. Before now, Frias had some rather bad luck that would bite him again before his turn finished.  For four innings, Frias maintained mastery over the visitors. In that time, Frias allowed only two hits. Vladimir Dilone singled in the third.  Michael Toglio lead off the fourth with a double.

Those hits were to no avail.  Only Yorvis Torrealba made it as far as third and he made base on a walk.  Constricted by nine strikeouts in only four innings, Hawks batters dealt more with frustration than base running.

No Chance to Win

The fifth led to the blip that kept Frias in no decision territory.  Yorvis Torrealba led off a single and scored after Frias walked three batters interspersed around two outs.  Yaramil Hiraldo came in and got the Hops out of the inning with no more damage. In the sixth, Hiraldo needed help to get out of the inning.

However, Jacob Stevens (W, 2-0) arrived and induced Aaron Schrunk to fly out to centerfield to get the Hops out of trouble.  Consequently, Stevens remained through the eighth to earn the win. Finally, Justin Garcia closed the game allowing only one hit.

In contrast, Eris Filpo (L, 2-1) started for the Hawks and was responsible for the grand inning of the Hops to take the loss.

Standings

Meanwhile, the win helped the Hillsboro Hops (16-10) gain a half game on the idle Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.  However, the loss dropped the Boise Hawks (13-13) a half game from the Southern Division leading Volcanoes.

Subsequently, the Salem-Keizer and Eugene took the scheduled day off Tuesday and will play a four game homestand starting Wednesday.  On the other hand, the Hops and the Hawks scheduled their day off for tomorrow. Afterwards, the Hops will travel to Boise where the two teams will pick up where they left off except for trading dugouts.

Moreover, stay with Minor League Sports Report for continuing game recaps along with an archive going back through the 2015 season.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker