Barrosa drove in all of the Hillsboro Hops two runs to beat the Boise Hawks 2-1. Jorge Barrosa wasn’t everywhere on the field.  Just those places and times he was needed.  

Star Wars Night

Tonight was the annual Star Wars night at Ron Tonkin Field.  Among the festivities, we got to see a miniature Kylo Ren subjugate home plate umpire Andrew Clark to his dominance before the game started.  But, Kylo Ren did not face Jorge Barrosa. Barrosa wielded his bat just as good as any light saber.

In the third inning, Barrosa drove a double to right field to bring Daniel Wasinger home for the first score of the game.  Wasinger reached base earlier with a double of his own. Two innings later, Barrosa drove Ricky Martinez home who used his speed to score from second base.

Just like that, Jorge Barrosa drove in all of the two runs for the Hops.  During the game, Barrosa smacked three of the Hops seven hits on the night.  Jorge “The Jedi Master” Barrosa knew he would be the “Force” tonight.

The Pitching Force

Two runs, however, is not enough to win on most nights. But,  add the Hops pitching staff to the equation tonight and the two runs looked like a dozen to the Hawks bats.  The pitching grabbed a hold of the strike zone as tight as Darth Vader can choke from across the room and pounded it as hard as their bats pounded the horsehide.

Tyler Holton (W, 2-0) started and continued with his mastery of the mound.  In the last two games, Holton pitched ten scoreless innings giving up only three hits.  Even more impressive, Holton struck out 17 batters in ten innings, including nine tonight in five innings. If it wasn’t for a fielding error in the outfield, the Hawks would have been held scoreless on only one hit.

Nick Snyder (H, 1), Mailon Arroyo (H, 2) and Eduardo Herrera (S, 5) took over from there.  The three bullpen artists not only held the Hawks scoreless, but hitless as well. Over the combined four innings, they faced the minimum twelve batters.  The twelve outs were seven strikeouts and five groundouts. After Trey Jacobs doubled home the Hawks only (unearned) run with two outs in the fourth, Boise never got another hit or runner on base.  Nada.

The Jedi Knights Arrive

In addition to the “Force”ful presence of Jorge Barrosa, several Hops were a part of the win.  With pitches tight and opportunities to slug few at the start the game, Daniel Wasinger opened up a one out double to get the fever going.  All he needed was Barrosa’s two out double to send him home. Liover Peguero tripled in the fourth but starting pitcher for the Hawks, Will Etheridge, mowed down the side with three strikeouts of his own to strand him at third.

The Daniel Wasinger/Jorge Barrosa connection struck again, albeit with a stand-in to finish the job.  Again, Wasinger hit safely to get on base with one out. Rickey Martinez, who is one of the fastest runners on the Hops, hit into a fielder’s choice removing Wasinger from the base paths.  Turned out to be good fortune for the Hops. With his speed, Martinez stole second and put himself in scoring position. Barrosa’s two out single was all Martinez needed to score from second.

Standings

With the win, the Hillsboro Hops (13-9) kept pace with the Eugene Emeralds for a tie atop the Southern Division.  With the loss, the Boise Hawks (9-13) remain in a third place tie with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. The win also gave the Hops the series win 2-1.

The Hops remain at Ron Tonkin Field for another three game series.  This time, the Tri City Dust Devils come to visit. Nick Thwaits starts for the Dust Devils.  In his last outing, Thwaits went five innings but gave up two runs on eight hits for the no decision.  The Hops have not yet selected a starter.

Stay with Minor League Sports Report for game recaps throughout the season.  Also, follow me onTwitter for half inning updates on all Hops home games.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker