For the second night in a row, the Hillsboro Hops were left far behind by the Spokane Indians 8-0. Only this time, they were blanked for the eighth time this year.  Though Spokane is currently tied for third place in the North Division, they did win the first half and seemed to be regaining form just in time for the playoffs.

Sal Mendez (W, 6-4) started for the Indians and set the tone through seven innings limiting the Hops to only four hits for the win. Mendez threw 94 pitches over that time staying in control the whole way. Steven Bruce shut the Hops out for the final two innings.

For the Hops, it was a different story. While the Indians pitching staff kept the Hops from scoring, the Hops pitching staff couldn’t stop Spokane from crossing the plate. Tyler Mark (L, 5-5) went through five innings and part of the sixth giving up four runs on six hits for the loss. When Mark left in the sixth, there were runners at the corners and one run already scored with no outs.

Colin Poche took the mound in relief and is normally a sure thing. But, tonight, even Poche couldn’t stop the Indians from scoring two runs on three hits over one inning. Riley Smith, another normally sure thing, took the final two innings giving up two runs on two hits.

The Hops bats were having just as much difficulty as they mustered only six hits on the night. Mark Karaviotis and Manny Jefferson seemed to have the most success, both getting two hits. Jefferson’s second hit of the night was a double in the ninth. Jefferson took third on a wild pitch and had hope to make a score but was left stranded by Hops batters as the game ended. Luke Lowery and Alexis Olmeda also singled.

The Spokane bats almost doubled the effort of their visitors from the Southern Division. Eleven hits were spread out almost equally over eight batters. Seth Spivey, Luis Terrero and Chad Smith had two hits on the night. Anderson Tejada and Smith scored two runs each accounting for half of the Indians runs. Spivey had three RBIs and Smith had two. The power hitting also led to three doubles as Smith not only doubled in the sixth but also blasted a homer in the eighth. Luis Terrero smacked a double in the fourth but was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Alexis Olmeda. Leody Taveras started off the sixth with a double that would lead to the big sixth inning where the Indians sent ten men to the plate and scored five runs.

Spokane also had plenty of fireworks in the game to go with Chad Smith’s homer. Seth Spivey homered in the big sixth with two men on base. Anderson Tejada scored the first and winning run with a solo shot in the first.

The loss dropped the Hillsboro Hops (19-13) to four games in back of Eugene with six games to go. Both the Hops and the Emeralds have already clinched a playoff berth and will face each other in the opening round.

The win pulled the Spokane Indians (11-21) into a third place tie with Vancouver. The Indians won the first half crown ensuring a playoff spot. They will face Everett who has won the second half.

Both teams will meet again Wednesday night for the mid point of the five game series with Spokane leading 2-0.

Hops notes: RHP Jake Polancic was assigned to the Hillsboro Hops from the AZL D-Backs on Tuesday. Jake was drafted in the eleventh round by the Diamondbacks in 2016. The 6’3″ eighteen-year-old hails from British Columbia by way of Yale SS in Abbotsford, BC.  His fastball reaches the low 90s and has a solid curve.

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By Greg Stoker
@GDStoker