Hillsboro Bullpen Shines in 4-2 Win

Hillsboro, OR (July, 24)- The Hillsboro Hops got their second straight win against the visiting Vancouver Canadians. The only two runs the Canadians scored came in the first inning, getting shut down for eight consecutive innings by the Hops’ pitching staff. The 4-2 win at Hillsboro Ballpark put the Hops up two games in the six-game series.

Hops’ starter Joe Elbis went toe-to-toe against Juaron Watts-Brown. Watts-Brown pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs, striking out eight batters. Elbis went six, allowing two earned runs and seven hits. Four pitchers came into the game for Vancouver, striking out a combined 14 Hillsboro batters.

Peyton Williams had a two-run RBI single in the first inning to give the Canadians the lead.

Wildred Patiño walked to start the bottom of the third. Patiño stole second and third, scoring on an RBI single from Manny Peña.

Down 2-1, Junior Franco hit a sacrifice fly to score Jose Fernandez and tie the game up in the fifth inning.

With runners on the corners and two outs, Jose Fernandez made a run-saving play at third to end the top of the sixth.

Christian Cerda had a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. Jose Fernandez kept his stellar game going, scorching a double to right field and putting Cerda on third. Franco recorded his second RBI of the night, driving in Cerda on a fielder’s choice to give Hillsboro the lead.

A wild pitch from Canadians’ pitcher Grayson Thurman in the bottom of the eighth inning allowed Jack Hurley to score from third, giving the Hops an extra insurance run to go into the ninth.

For the second night in a row, Dylan Rock grounded into a double play to end the game, the Canadians losing both times.

Jack Hurley, Jose Fernandez, and Manny Peña were the only Hops’ batters to record hits, all three recording two hits. The Hillsboro bullpen, which consisted of Eli Saul, Armando Vasquez, and Alfred Morillo was excellent, allowing no runs to score. Saul got the win, Vasquez got the hold and Morillo got the save.

Game three of the series will be played at 7:05 pm at Hillsboro Ballpark on Thursday. The pregame show will start at 6:50 pm on Rip City Radio 620 AM.