De Jesus Hits for Cycle, Drives in 7 Versus Hops

Hillsboro, OR (July 4, 2023) – The sold-out crowd of 5,200 on Independence Day 2023 witnessed history at Ron Tonkin Field, as Vancouver Canadians’ SS Alex De Jesus hit for the cycle. De Jesus doubled in the first, homered in the third, tripled in the fourth and singled in the seventh en route to his seven RBI game. He became the first opposing player to hit for the cycle at Ron Tonkin Field in it’s 10-year history, in the 8-2 Vancouver win.

Joe Elbis made his first start of the season against Vancouver and the Canadians hit him hard from the get-go. Three hits in the first inning by the top of the order scored a run, including two extra-base hits by Dasan Brown and Alex De Jesus.

Elbis had a one-two-three second inning, but would run into trouble again in the third. Catcher Jommer Hernandez hit the first pitch he saw in the inning for a home run, his third homer in 38 games. The next batter, Alan Roden was Hit-by-pitch, his second of what would be five times on base in the game. Alex De Jesus later had his second extra-base hit off Elbis, this time, a two-run shot to dead center field. The homer gave Vancouver a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Michael Dominguez continued his dominance over the Hillsboro lineup. Entering the game, he pitched 10.2 innings against the Hops without allowing an earned run. Hillsboro broke through for their first run off Dominguez in the third, a sacrifice fly by Manuel Peña. Peña’s seventh High-A RBI brought the score to 4-1.

De Jesus’s third extra-base hit of the game was in the fifth, a two-RBI triple that extended the lead to 6-1. Dominguez completed five innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run over 85 pitches. Dominguez has now pitched 15.2 innings against the Hops this year, allowing just one run.

Two more runs for the Canadians came off the bat of De Jesus in the seventh, as he hit a line drive on a 3-2 pitch from Dillon Larsen off the glove of Hops’ SS Josh Day. After two runs scored, it was ruled a single and Alex De Jesus became the second player in Ron Tonkin Field to hit for the cycle (Ivan Melendez, 2023). The cycle was the second time De Jesus has completed the feat, doing so last season as a member of the Dodgers organization.

The Hops loaded the bases in the ninth and scored a run on a walk, but that’s all they would get. The Canadians took game one of the series by a final score of 8-2.

Alan Roden was 2-for-2 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch and Alex De Jesus was 4-for-5 with 7 RBI for Vancouver.

Game two of the series is at Ron Tonkin Field on Wednesday, with first pitch at 7:05 and the pregame show at 6:50 on Rip City Radio 620 and Bally Live.