The Hillsboro Hops shutout the Eugene Emeralds 4-0 on Thursday evening. No Emeralds runners made it to third base, leaving six runners stranded. As a team, the Ems had just four hits in 30 at-bats.

Jared Miller (6-0) started for the Hops and set the tone for the rest of the game. Pitching six innings, Miller struck out eleven of the twenty-two batters he faced. He only allowed three hits and a walk.

Starter Kyle Twomey lasted two innings for the Emeralds. Twomey kept in step with Miller, allowing one hit and striking out two.  But, it was Jose Paulino (1-2) who earned the loss allowing all four runs (three were earned) on nine hits with one walk and striking out seven in five innings.

The Hops reached base in each of the first seven innings, safely hitting in all but the second when Luis Veras reached first on a fielding error. Yet, scoring didn’t happen until the top of the fifth.

Alexis Olmeda led off with a line drive to right for a single.  Fernery Ozuna doubled on a grounder through the left side. Olmeda hustled around from first to score. Mike Freeman came to the plate and a wild pitch by Jose Paulino allowed Ozuna to move to third. Freeman walked on four straight pitches to put runners at the corners.  Zach Nehrir followed with his tenth double of the season as Ozuna easily came home. Freeman ended up at third. Trevor Mitsui grounded to third baseman Adonis Paula who alertly threw to home and catcher Alberto Mineo tagged the lead runner Freeman out. Mitsui stood safely at first with a fielder’s choice. Nehrir went to third on the play. Josh Anderson finished the scoring by lining a double to the left field wall scoring Nehrir.

It would be enough to win the game but the Hops added an insurance run in the seventh. Sergio Alcantara came in for short stop Mike Freeman who came down to the Hops from AAA-Reno on a rehab assignment. To start the inning, Alcantara slapped a hard infield hit to shortstop Ho-young Son. Son fielded the grounder but threw wide to first base. Alcantara went to second on the throwing error. After two outs, Josh Anderson hit a deep ball that bounced of the left centerfield wall for a stand up double. Alcantara easily scored for what would be the final score of 4-0.

For the Hops, Josh Anderson went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI. Alexis Olmeda also went 2 for 4 and scored a run. Fernery Ozuna went 2 for 5 and scored a run with a double and an RBI. Sergio Alcantara went 1 for 2 on a short assignment and scored a run. Zach Nehrir also scored and nailed an RBI.

Ian Happ, Adonis Paula and Ho-young Son went 1 for 3 batting for the Emeralds. Happ and Paul’s hits were doubles, the only extra base hits of the night for the Ems.

The Hillsboro Hops (16-12) moved up into a tie with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes for the South Division lead.  The Eugene Emeralds (15-13) stayed one game behind the leaders. Both teams finish the three game series Friday night. The series is tied 1-1.

Boxscore Provided by MiLB.com

By Greg Stoker
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