Hops Nuke Devils With 19 Hit Barrage

It was an 11-run victory Wednesday night for Hillsboro and the game was not nearly as close as the score would indicate.

After threatening multiple times early to blow the game open, the Hops cashed in five runs in the sixth inning to take a 9-2 lead and pulled away for a 14-3 win over Tri-City at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Washington Wednesday night.

With season highs in runs and hits, the Hops have won back-to-back road games for only the second time this season. A.J. Vukovich ended a 1-for-17 slump with four hits and four runs batted in, ending up a triple short of the cycle as the Hops collected 19 hits in the rout. All nine batters scored or knocked in a run in the game.

The Hops loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first but did not score. A three-run A.J. Vukovich home run in the second inning hastened an early exit or Tri-City starting pitcher Nick Mondak, who gave up three hits and three walks in two innings.

Tri-City responded with a 2-run homer from Mike Peabody in the bottom of the second, before the Hops again loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning. Facing reliever Hayden Seig. Spencer Brickhouse hit a shallow pop fly to the left side that shortstop Osmy Gregorio pursued. The heady infielder, seeing no infield fly had been called by the umpires, allowed the ball to drop in shallow left field. The three Hops baserunners held their positions as Gregorio threw the ball home, where umpire Guillermo Rodriguez called an out. Still, the Hops runners did not budge, but Tri-City fumbled its chance at an inning-ending triple play, throwing the ball to second and then first. In the confusion that followed, the umpires ruled that only two outs were recorded. With two on and two outs, Tristin English delivered an RBI single to score Ryan Bliss, giving the Hops a 4-3 lead.

Hillsboro would stranded two runners in scoring position in the third, then left Tim Tawa at third base in the fourth inning following a double and an error. After a scoreless fifth inning against righthander Jake Smith, Hillsboro finally cut loose in the sixth. Vukovich hammered a double off the wall in right to score Tristin English, who had reached on an error to lead off the inning. With one out, Tim Tawa singled to left to score Ramses Malave, but Vukovich was thrown out at the plate and it looked like another big inning might slip away. But three straight two-out RBI hits from Adrian Del Castillo, Bliss and Danny Oriente allowed the Hops to get some breathing room and they cruised from there.

Scott Randall (2-1) picked up the win, allowing three hits and three earned runs with a season-high eight strikeouts and one walk in six innings. Caleb Roberts added a three-run homer in the seventh inning off Greg Veliz and Hillsboro collected four hits and a walk to add two more runs in the ninth. Ramses Malave had his first three-hit game of the season, scoring three runs in his return to Hillsboro after 10 games at Low-A Visalia.

The 14 runs and 19 hits were the most in five years for the Hops, who remain a game back of first place Spokane in the Northwest League standings.

Game three of the series is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with pregame coverage beginning at 6:15 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.