Daniel Wasinger launched a fly ball to centerfield, opening the door for Joe Robbins to score from second in the top of the tenth inning.  After a three game winning streak where the Hillsboro Hops won easily by scores of 4-0, 4-0 and 8-1, the Hops earned a squeaker past the Tri Cities Dust Devils 5-4 in extra innings.  The winning streak now stands at four games in a row.

The Hops power hitting continues to grow with batters smacking six doubles, half of their twelve hit total for the game.  Lucas Herbert smashed two doubles by himself to raise his doubles total to three in five games. Kristian Robinson tied him with his third double of the season.  Joe Robbins and David Garza, Jr. both hit their first double of the season. And, of course, there was the game winner by Daniel Wasinger, also his first of the season.

The Spice of Power

The success at the plate is spread around showing the team effort of playing small ball with the added spice of power.  Three batters in particular are showing an early lead in this young season. If they can keep it up at even a little over half of this pace, the Hops have a good chance to pound their way into the playoffs this year.  However, hope needs to be tempered only five games into the season. Everything still seems possible.

Those three batters are Lucas Herbert, Kristian Robinson and Joe Gillette.  In their fourth win of the season, Gillette went 2 for 4 raising his average to .308.  Robinson also went 2 for 4 building his average to a Ted Williams-like .421 to go along with two RBIs.  But, Herbert stands even taller for the moment, going 3 for 5 and lifting his average to .556 generating double takes by those looking in the box scores.

Dust Devils Take Early Lead

None of this power would have helped if the pitching didn’t keep the game within reach.  After three easy wins, it looked like the easy was over. The Dust Devils sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning.  It would be the only scoring on the night for the home team. Franklyn Soriano came to the mound for almost four innings, striking out seven.  Yaramil Hiraldo added a hitless inning where he struck out the side.

That gave the Hops time to catch back up with their hosts.  The Hops batters started waking up. Kristian Robinson clobbered a two RBI double in the top of the fourth.  David Garza doubled home Joe Gillette in the seventh. Finally, Lucas Herbert doubled home Jorge Barrosa to tie the game in the eighth.

Jose Cuas Takes the Mound

Jose Cuas (W, 1-0) stepped to the mound in the bottom of the eighth.  Hops batters had just tied the game making it a brand new contest. Over the last three innings, two walks issued gave the Dust Devils their only base runners for the end of the game.  Striking out four batters and inducing the rest into ground outs or fly outs, Cuas kept the game under control for the win. Tom Colletti (L, 0-1) gave up the Daniel Wasinger double for the loss.

Daniel Wasinger Steps Up

The stage was set.  Extra innings would start with the added base runner rule from a couple of years ago.  For the Hops, Joe Robbins took second base to start the tenth. Daniel Wasinger stepped into the moment when he approached the plate.  With two outs, his double to center provided the game winner.

Of course, the season is long and averages will rise and fall.  Players will go into slumps or get hotter than the sun on a hot August night.  Players will eventually come back to Earth after circling the bases in high orbit.  But, with less than a week into the 2019 season, the fans can still think anything is possible.  But, there is still more to wish for. Five games into the season, the Hops have outscored their opponents 23-7… without hitting a home run.  One can only imagine what can happen when the tater season starts.

The win gave the Hillsboro Hops (4-1) sole possession of first place in the Southern Division.  The loss dropped the Tri City Dust Devils (1-4) three games back of the Northern Division leading Spokane Indians.  Both teams return to Gesa Stadium Wednesday night for the third game of the four game series.

Luis Frias is scheduled to start for the Hops.  In his last appearance, on opening night, Frias started only to receive the loss after allowing two runs in five innings.  Dan Dallas will take the mound for the Dust Devils. Dallas has only pitched two innings this season so far. His ERA remains at 0.00 at this point.

Read about opening day with quotes from the Hops players and their owner.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker