Second inning was filled with hits, walks and eleven men going to the plate.  The end result was a six run lead that withstood everything the Hillsboro Hops could throw at it.  At the end of the game, Vancouver claimed victory with a 8-4 score.

No Slugfest Tonight in Second Inning

It all started with a strikeout.  The young game still hadn’t settled in on whether it would be a pitcher’s duel or a slugfest.  Up until this point, slugfests were more common.  Such as last night’s slugfest where the Hops won 9-6.  So, it was not a surprise that this one started off in the same direction.  But, where were the home runs?

With one out, the strikeout, the barrage started.  A series of nine batters followed with the only out being a sacrifice fly to score a run.  The other eight were a combination of four walks and four singles.  Starting pitcher for the Hops, Kyler Stout (L, 0-4) had some trouble in the first but nothing like this.  The game was already decided to be a bullpen day.  Being one starter short in a five man rotation, the Hops decided to fill in with a series of pitchers going two or three innings at most.

Trouble in the Second Inning

So all Stout needed was to get through the second like he did the first.  Kyler did not get to see the end of the inning from the mound’s point of view.  He needed one more out to finish the job.  When he left, he also left the bases loaded and a 4-0 deficit.  Two of those runners scored before the inning ended to make it 6-0.  The Hops spent the rest of the game trying to catch up but never making it.

Hillsboro’s Bobby Ay and Kai-Wei Lin, both reliable relievers out of the bullpen, ran into some small trouble of their own.  Bobby Ay, started his second inning of the night, the sixth, with two strikeouts.  A third seemed to be close at hand.  Instead, Rafael Lantigua singled, stole second and scored on Tanner Morris’ RBI single.

Orelvis: Only Homer Tonight

Lin ran into a bigger bump but it resulted in just one run on the board.  The same as Ay.  Lin’s run came from Orelvis Martinez.  His long blast matched the far traveling long shot of the Hops’ Spencer Briskhouse from the night before.  Brickhouse’ shot cleared the berm behind left field and ended up in the softball field beyond.  I never heard where Martinez’ shot ended.

Gerald Ogando and closer Mailon Arroyo both sailed through their time on the mound, each facing only three batters per inning.  Ogando was called in to relieve Stout in the second and get out of the inning.  He followed that with three sterling innings on his own, the longest stint of any Hops’ pitcher tonight.  Arroyo closed the ninth and only needed seven pitches to get through it.

Northern Point of View

The Canadians’ pitching staff had an easier night.  The Hops could get runners on base but left eleven of them behind at the end of the inning.  Starting pitcher Sem Robberse had the longest stint of the night.  The young Dutchman from the Netherlands had little problems until the fifth.  Up until then, Robberse had a no-hitter going.  But, the fifth changed all of that.  His first two batters accounted for two outs.  All he needed was one more out to finish the inning.  Three consecutive singles later, by Luvin Valbuena, Blaze Alexander and Cam Coursey, Robberson walked off the mound for the last time but the inning was still not over.

Justin Maese (W, 3-1) relieved Robberse and struck out Tristin English but not before Axel Andueza made it four consecutive singles and a second run.  Gabriel Ponce followed a couple of innings later and let two more runs cross the plate.  Again, he started off with two quick outs but the third out proved to be elusive.  Taking a plot line from the fifth, the Hops’ Andueza, English and AJ Vukovich hit three consecutive singles.  Vukovich’s hit turned out to be a 2-run single.  That would make 8-4, the final score of the night.

Standings

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker