Hops Sunk by 8-run inning, 15 LOB

PASCO, WASH. --- The Hops wasted their chances, time and again. And late in the game, the Tri-City Dust Devils did not. Hillsboro left 15 men on base, including 11 in scoring position. And Tri-City put together an eight-run seventh inning en route to an 8-4 win over the Hops on Tuesday night at Gesa Stadium.

First-place Eugene lost in ten innings at Everett, and at the halfway point of the first-half pennant race, Hillsboro (16-17) remains three games out. Tri-City (15-18) is four back.

Hillsboro got on the board three batters into the game when leadoff batter Jack Hurley doubled, and one out later Andrew Pintar singled him home. Gavin Conticello then singled, but the Hops’ recurring baserunning blunders—largely eradicated over the last four games—came back to bite them again. Conticello tried to take second, unaware that Pintar had stopped there, and Conticello was tagged out in a rundown. The next two batters reached on a hit batter and a walk to load the bases, but Kevin Sim struck out to end the inning. Five baserunners in the first, and only one run. It was a theme that would continue all night.

Double-play grounders killed Hops rallies in the second and third innings, and a strikeout and fly out stranded runners at second and third in the fourth.

In the sixth the Hops, leading 1-0, finally broke through for more. A two-run single by Pintar (who drove home three in the game) made it 3-0, but even in that inning the Hops lost a chance to bust it open by leaving three on base.

Hops starter Joe Elbis scattered three hits and a walk over 5.2 shutout innings, and Hillsboro’s starters’ ERA over the past seven games is below 0.50. Armando Vazquez struck out the final batter of the sixth, and Hillsboro’s pitching appeared to be in command.

But no. Vasquez allowed a double, a single and a one-out walk to start the seventh. With the tying runs on first and second, Jhosmer Alvarez came out of the Hops’ bullpen, sporting an ERA under 1.00 in 10 appearances this year across two levels.

A wild pitch sent the runners to second and third, and Dust Devils shortstop Caleb Ketchup doubled them home. After Jorge Ruiz walked, Ben Gobbel singled home the go-ahead run. Later in the inning, Matt Coutney singled home a pair, Mason Martin had a sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch brought home the eighth run. Alvarez faced six batters without getting an out.

When the dust had settled, and Carlos Meza had mopped up and gotten the final two outs of the inning, Tri-City had sent 13 men to the plate. The eight-run inning matched the seventh-most runs the Hops had ever allowed in one frame, and the 13 batters faced matched the second-most.

Juan Corniel had two singles and a double in five at-bats for the Hops, while Hurley doubled and singled and scored twice.

The Hops scored a run in the ninth on an error and a Manny Pena double, but could get no closer.

The Hops’ 15 runners left on base equaled the most they’d ever stranded in a nine-inning game, having also done so in a 6-3 win over Vancouver on July 1, 2019.

The Hops and Dust Devils will play afternoon baseball on Wednesday at Gesa Stadium. The second game of the six-game series will begin at 1:35, with the pregame show airing at 1:20PM on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com.