Cody Reed Near Perfect as Hillsboro Hops Down Eugene Emeralds, 2-0
Cody Reed (4-1) pitched seven near perfect innings for the Hillsboro Hops Friday night, allowing only one hit and striking out seven in the 2-0 win. The hit, a double by the Eugene Emeralds’ Ian Happ, came in the seventh inning with two outs and ruined the chance for Reed to complete a perfect game. Afterwards, Reed struck out batter Eloy Jimenez to get out of his only “jam” of the night. After the inning, Reed walked off the mound towards second and shook Happ’s hand in congratulations. Taylor Clarke (S-1) pitched two innings of two hit ball to protect the lead and earn the save.
The Hops shutout the Emeralds in back-to-back games and held them scoreless for twenty-one consecutive innings. An Emerald runner did not reach base in tonight’s game until Ian Happ’s double in the seventh.
The first run of the night came in the first inning with two outs. Zach Nehrir singled to right and Trevor Mitsui followed with a single to left, moving Nehrir to second. Josh Anderson continued with the third consecutive single of the inning to score Nehrir from second base.
The second run of the evening came in the eighth. Trey Masek came in to relieve pitcher Greyfer Eregua for the Emeralds to start the inning. Mike Freeman, who continued his rehab assignment from AAA-Reno, singled to center. Zach Nehrir grounded out to short stop Adonis Paul to move Freeman over to second. Trevor Mitsui singled to right center to score Freeman for the 2-0 lead.
The Emeralds did bring the potential go ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Taylor Clarke relieved Cody Reed for Hillsboro and Matt Rose greeted the reliever with a single to left field. After two outs, Justin Marra pinch hit for Tyler Alamo. Marra walked on a full count to move Rose to second. With the go ahead run at the plate, Kevonte Mitchell came in to pinch run for Marra at first and Blake Headly pinch hit Adonis Paula. Headley grounded to third baseman Fernery Ozuna who stepped on the bag for a force out and the scoring threat was over.
Trevor Mitsui went 2 for 4 for the Hops, knocking in the game’s second RBI. Josh Anderson and Sergio Alcantara both went 1 for 3. Anderson knocked in what proved to be the game winning RBI. Alcantara smacked a double that proved to be the Hops only extra base hit.
For the Emeralds, Ian Happ went 2 for 4 with one hit, a double, the Em’s only extra base hit. Matt Rose went 1 for 3 to account for the Em’s only other hit in the game.
Preston Morrison (0-1) started the first two innings for the Emeralds allowing one run on four hits for the loss. Morrison struck out two.
The win enabled the Hillsboro Hops (17-12) remain in first place in the South Division alone as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (16-13) lost tonight. The Eugene Emeralds (15-14) fell to two games out of the lead with the loss.
The Hops won the three-game series with the Ems 2-1. Saturday night, the Hops will come home for a five game stand against the North Division leading Everett Aquasox. The Hops and Aquasox are both tied (17-12) for the best record in the Northwest League.
The Emeralds will travel to Vancouver, British Columbia for a five game series of their own.
Greg Stoker
Follow Greg on Twitter
