Hops Stun Ems With 7-run 7th, Hang On In 9th

In a series that has packed a season's worth of drama into less than a week, the Hops won the wildest one yet at Eugene.

Down 8-3 in the seventh inning, Hillsboro (30-38) rallied for seven runs to take the lead, holding on for a 10-9 victory over the Emeralds (40-29) at P.K. Park Friday night.

Ten men came to the plate, eight had hits, and four of them were infield hits. The Hops also stole four bases in the inning with runners at first and third and one out to stay out of double plays. A double play finally did end the frame and the game didn't end until Hops closer Yaramil Hiraldo had to get through a Murderer's Row of heavy hitters in Eugene's half of the ninth.

The victory evened the series at two games apiece. The Hops need to win the final two games of the series to close the gap between themselves and the Emeralds in the race for the High A West League's final playoff spot. Eugene currently trails first-place Everett by 6 1/2 games, but has a 9 1/2 game lead over the Hops.

Eduardo Diaz continues to swing a hot bat after a prolonged dry spell. The Hops outfielder went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, four runs batted in and two runs scored Friday, knocking in the first two runs in the seventh with his second two-bagger. That began a parade of six consecutive hits off Eugene relievers Bryce Tucker and Jasier Herrera (1-1), capped by Roman Ruiz's two-RBI single to right field.

After Eugene battered Hops starting pitcher Justin Vernia (four extra-base hits and five runs in three innings) and reliever Josh McMinn (three runs on three hits and two walks in the fifth), Kai-Wei Lin (1-0) provided a safe port in the storm, setting down the Ems in order with two strikeouts in the sixth, before Tyler Jones hung a pair of zeros, fanning four with a walk and no hits in the seventh and eighth innings.

That set up Hiraldo for the ninth, but he was rudely greeted by Eugene infielder Tyler Fitzgerald, who launched his second pitch over the wall in left for his 11th home run of the season. Next in the order were Sean Roby , Ricardo Genoves and Franklin Labour , who between them have combined for 25 home runs this year. Roby, who had homered off Vernia in a three-run first inning, grounded out sharply to short. Hiraldo fanned Genoves on a breaking pitch in a seven-pitch battle, then walked Labour on a 3-2 fastball that just missed outside. That brought up Tyler Flores , who came into the night 1 for his last 24 at the plate, but had doubled and scored in the second and drove in a pair of runs with a fifth inning single. But Hiraldo got him to chase a changeup in the dirt, as catcher Nick Dalesandro threw down to first for the final out. First baseman Axel Andueza took a dramatic pause before stomping on the bag to end the game as Flores slammed down his batting helmet in disgust.

The Hops matched a season-high with 15 hits and the combined 26 hits were one off a season high, set in a 16-2 loss at Everett June 1, a night when the AquaSox had 20 of them.

The Hops and Emeralds have now played four consecutive one-run games, the longest such streak for the Hops since the 2014 season.

Hillsboro will send Drey Jameson, second in the High A West League in WHIP (1.29), to the hill in Saturday's game five. Eugene will counter with soft-tossing righty Aaron Phillips, who confounded the Hops over seven innings in a Eugene win at Ron Tonkin Field on July 1, despite rarely throwing over 85 mph. Pregame airtime is at 6:50 p.m. with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM