Caballero Continues Power Surge As Hops Beat Boise 5-2

Jose Caballero saw a streak of 23 consecutive games reaching base end on the road trip to Vancouver. Since then, not only has he reached base in every game, but has often rounded them.
Cabellero hit a two-run home run in a three-run first inning to give Hillsboro the lead for good and Jake McCarthy extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a two-hit night as the Hillsboro Hops (2-1 second half, 26-15 overall) defeated the Boise Hawks 5-2 in front of 4,926 fans at Ron Tonkin Field Thursday night.

In what has been a competitive matchup all year between the teams with the top two records in the Northwest League, the Hops became the first home team to win a series, taking two out of three. The teams had split their previous six games with each team winning on the other's home field.
Caballero homered for the second time in the series and the third time in his last five games, a two-run shot into the Boise bullpen in the first inning after Tra Holmes led off the game with a single up the middle. An error extended the inning and Keshawn Lynch made the Hawks pay with a two-out RBI single to plate Andy Yerzy.
Ryan Weiss, a 4th-round pick out of Wright State, pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a walk, allowing one hit in his sixth Hops start. 
Kenny Hernandez (3-2) pitched the middle innings, allowing both Boise runs after the Hawks greeted him with three consecutive singles in the third inning. Over 4 2/3 innings, the southpaw from Panama allowed seven hits and no walks with three strikeouts.
Boise's Jeffri Ocando (1-2) settled down after the first inning, striking out seven Hops without a walk. He surrendered two earned runs on seven hits over five innings.
The Hops plated two insurance runs in the sixth inning after McCarthy led off with a walk and Keshawn Lynch hit a ground rule double to left center off reliever Miguel Ausua. Newest Hop Terence Connelly plated McCarthy with a grounder to the right side and a Jorge Perez squeeze bunt sent Lynch sprinting home. Connelly also doubled and walked, going 1-for-3 in his Hillsboro debut
West Tunnell pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for his first pro save, recording his first four outs on strikeouts, while allowing a lone baserunner on a two-out double by Daniel Jipping in the eighth.
Lynch, McCarthy and Holmes each had two hits for the Hops. Jipping, Terrin Vavra and Luke Morgan each had two hits for Boise (1-2, 22-19).
The Hops hit the road for five games at Spokane's Avista Stadium, starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday night. The Indians, who finishd last in the North Division in the first half, are off to a 3-0 start. Spokane lost all five games of a series at Ron Tonkin Field earlier this month.Travis Demers will have the call of the game on NBC Sports Northwest Rip City Radio and ripcityradio.com starting at 6:25 p.m.