Dust Devils Use Big Eighth Inning to Down Hops

Hillsboro, OR (May 27, 2023) – Adrian Placencia and Alexander Ramirez stole the show on Saturday night at Ron Tonkin Field, combining for three home runs and eight RBI. The seven run eighth inning for Tri-City was too much for the Hops to overcome, in the 12-9 Dust Devils’ win.

Sammy Natera Jr. struggled with his command in the first inning, walking two batters and hitting two. Jesus Valdez was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to score a run and then Josh Day hit the ball over the head of Ramirez in right for a ground rule double that scored two more runs. The double was Day’s fourth of the year and RBI’s 11 and 12. Natera Jr. didn’t make it out of the first inning and exited with two outs after throwing 38 pitches. It was 3-0 Hops heading to the bottom of the frame.

Yu-Min Lin breezed through the first two innings, but ran into trouble in the third. Two hits and a walk scored a run for the Dust Devils against Lin. A day after hitting a grand slam, Adrian Placencia had the RBI in the inning on a double.

The first two batters in the fourth reached base against Lin, resulting in a pair of runs. After an Osmy Gregorio single, Alexander Ramirez brought him home with a two-run shot. The homer off the bat of Ramirez was his first of the season, tying the game at three. Lin gave up three earned runs over his four innings of work, but did strike out five.

Roman Phansalkar was the first Dust Devil out of the bullpen and pitched well in relief of Natera Jr. The only run he allowed in 3.1 frames came in the fourth on Gary Mattis Jr.’s second home run of the series, a solo shot.

Hillsboro would add a single run in the fifth and sixth innings to extend the lead to 6-3. The former Oregon State Beaver, Nathan Burns, struck out the side in the seventh to keep the Dust Devils’ deficit to three.

Will Mabrey had another strong outing for Hillsboro out of the pen’. He didn’t allow a run over 2.1 innings and lowered his season ERA to 0.90.

Things got out of hand for the Hops in the eighth, allowing one of the biggest innings of the season with Tri-City scoring seven runs on six hits. Six of the runs came with two outs. The two-out single by Myles Emmerson and a three-run homer for Adrian Placencia were the big hits during the barrage. Placencia’s home run marked his second in as many days and his second RBI extra-base hit of the game. He now has eight runs driven in over the last two games, four in each game. Tri-City took a 10-6 lead to the ninth.

Alexander Ramirez added on insurance by going deep again in the ninth clearing the batter’s eye in center field, his second home run in five innings. Entering the game, Ramirez hadn’t homered in 143 at-bats, but homered twice in his last four at-bats on Saturday.

The Hops trailed 12-6 entering the ninth, but didn’t give up there. Jesus Valdez brought the Hops closer with a three-run homer to make it 12-9, but that’s all they would get.

D’Orazio, Day and Mattis Jr. all had three hit games for the Hops in the loss, with Valdez driving in four.

The Final game of the series will be a matinee tomorrow at Ron Tonkin Field. First pitch at 1:05 with the pre game show starting at 12:50 on Rip City Radio 620 and Bally Live.