Marcus Tineo (W, 1-0) , Hillsboro Hops starting pitcher, set the tone with five scoreless innings and struck out five for the shut out win.  The first five innings did not go without drama and Tineo also allowed two walks and five singles. But, he managed to pitch out of any situation to help the Hillsboro Hops come out on top 4-0 over the Eugene Emeralds.

Hops Bats Wake Up

Equally setting the tone along with Marcus Tineo were the Hops bats.  After a previous night of five hits and no score, the bats came up with a total of eight hits and more than enough scoring.  Right fielder Kristian Robinson lead off single and later score off of DH David Garza, Jr.’s groundout would prove to be enough for the game winner.  However, his fellow Hops batters were more than willing to add to the fun.

In the fifth, shortstop Steve Leyton led off the inning with a  walk and moved to second with a steal to put himself in scoring position.  That move led to a score when left fielder Jesus Marriaga singled to right and Leyton scooted home.  But, the inning was yet to be over. Later in the inning, catcher Ryan January sent another single to right scoring Marriaga from third.

The final scoring of the night came in the sixth.  With two outs, Steve Leyton tripled deep into center field and came home moments later on a wild pitch by Ems pitcher Alfredo Colorado.  The score of 4-0 held for the rest of the game.

For the home team, starting pitcher Kohl Franklin (L, 0-1) went 3.2 innings and absorbed the loss.  After Franklin gave up the Robinson score off of a ground-out for the first score of the game, Jorge Barrosa stole third.  With growing confidence for the visiting team, Nick Grande then walked. The night was over for Franklin.

Marcus Tineo Leads Shut Out Staff in the Win

After Marcus Tineo’s solid outing, four more Hops hurlers came from the bullpen to take the mound for an inning each.  Franklyn Soriano and Jared Miller, both back from previous years took the sixth and eighth innings.  Jose Cuas, a free agent signed last month, dominated the seventh.  Bryan Menendez, a 2018 draft pick, closed the ninth.

At the plate, the night would see all nine Hops batters reach base at least once.  Steven Leyton and Kristian Robinson mounted two hits on the night. Along with Leyton’s triple, Robinson doubled.  With an unsustainable 1.270 OPS, Leyton is leading the team to go with a team leading .429 batting average after the first two games of the season.

The Hillsboro Hops (1-1) managed to even up their record with the win, dropping the Eugene Emeralds (1-1) into a tie.  They remain one game behind the Southern Division leading Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Sunday, both teams will play the rubber match for the series win.  Both starting pitchers are yet to be determined.

Jared Miller Returns

Hops note:  former Hops pitcher Jared Miller was assigned to the Hops on Friday.  Miller first played in a Hops uniform during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.  Miller has recently been on the AAA Reno Aces roster and has been on the Arizona Diamondbacks 40 man roster.  You can read my interview with him from 2015.

Boxscore

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker