Brandon Pfaadt Two-Hitter, Hillsboro Hops Squeeze Canadians 2-1
Brandon Pfaadt two-hitter combined with Denson Hull (H, 3) and Mailon Arroyo (S, 3) to become a three-hitter. It was a good thing as Nick Frase (L, 3-2) and company were also suffocating in a tight game. The Hillsboro Hops came out on top of the Vancouver Canadians 2-1.
Danny Oriente Shines During Power Outage
Only two batters had more than one hit on the night. They were both Hops. Danny Oriente made it look simple. Ten batters failed to get a hit from both teams while Danny went three for three. Roman Ruiz, who went two for four, was the only other batter to have more than one hit and both were doubles.
The Hops scoring formula was simple. One batter hits a single to get on base. The next batter doubles him home. It was so simple that the Hops did it twice. Oriente singled in the fourth while AJ Vukovich doubled him home. One inning later, Leodany Perez singled and Roman Ruiz doubled him home.
It is lucky for the Hops that the Canadians didn’t copyright that simple formula as they originated it in the third. Rafael Lantigua walked and two batters later, Orelvis Martinez doubled him home. It was the Hops’ little twist to change the batter walking to the batter hitting a single.
Brandon Pfaadt Two-Hitter More Than Sparse Hitting
It was filled with strikeouts. Brandon Pfaadt (W, 4-4) spread 98 pitches over seven innings. Among 26 batters faced, eleven of them struck out. The only inning Brandon did not strike out a batter was in the first. As time went along, his pitches grew to overpower the Canadians. Before Pfaadt retired from the mound, he struck out the last five batters he faced. Combine that with Denson Hull striking out his first victim and the Hops struck out six straight batters. Except for the Spencer Horwitz single in the ninth, Mailon Arroyo struck out the side in the ninth for his save.
Brandon Pfaadt Two-Hitter Too Much To Overcome
On most nights, Nick Fraze and the bullpen would have been enough for a win. He tried to get through the fifth but he started out with the Hops’ second run to take the lead. (In the previous inning, the Hops tied the game.) After getting a slow roller to first and a strikeout for two outs, he walked Andy Yerzy. Time for a change.
A succession of pitchers strode to the mound to take turns in shutting the Hops down. Andrew Bash came first and took Vancouver through the seventh. Willy Gaston and Roither Hernandez held the Hops at Bay. All three held the Hops scoreless. Each pitcher allowed one hit a piece. A winning night on another night. A night that Brandon Pfaadt is not pitching.
Standings
Consequently, the win helped the Hillsboro Hops (38-44) gain on Spokane and are now only two and a half games out of third place. The Hops are still 14 games behind Everett who also won tonight. The loss dropped the Vancouver Canadians (37-46) to a game and a half behind the Hops and are now 15.5 games behind Everett.
Both teams meet for the sixth and last time on Sunday at their usual 1:05 PM start time. The Hops have a chance for another series win while the Canadians are trying to even the series for the split. After falling behind 0-2, the Hops are on a three game winning streak to take the series lead. You can listen to the game on 620 AM radio if you can’t make it in person.
Box Score
By
Greg Stoker
@GDStoker
week 14 look back: Hillsboro Hops 4-game winning streak over Canadians.
August 10, 2021 @ 11:29 pm
[…] week featured four Hops winners: Justin Vernia, Josh McMinn, Blake Walston and Brandon Pfaadt. Brandon’s performance in game#6 was one of the highlights for the week. He pitched seven innings and allowed only one run for a […]