Hops Deep-Sixed Again By Frogs
The sudden power outage continued Tuesday night at Hillsboro Ballpark.
For the third consecutive night, the Hillsboro Hops were shut out, losing 6-0 to the Everett AquaSox in the final game of their five-game series.
After winning the first two games of the homestand, the Hops (4-4 2nd half, 15-31 overall) failed on their third consecutive try to win their third consecutive series. To add to the symmetry, Hillsboro lost by the same 6-0 score each night after being held to two hits for the second straight game. The Hops have just eight hits in their last three games combined, all singles, and have not scored in their last 28 innings on the field.
Everett righthanded pitcher Lars Huijer (7-1), a Northwest League All-Star, won his fifth consecutive decision, tossing eight innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts, a walk and one hit batter. Huijer, who gave up five hits and four runs to the Hops in a game at Everett on June 21, extended his streak of scoreless innings pitched to 23 with the victory.
Huijer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Yogey Perez-Ramos grounded a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw. Three pitches later, Yogey was back in the dugout along with Cesar Carrasco after the Hops' third baseman grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Ryan Kinsella had Hillsboro's only other hit, an infield single in the ninth inning off reliever Tyler Wright, who retired the next three batters with two strikeouts to close the game.
The AquaSox (5-3, 28-18) got all of their runs in the fourth inning off Ross Gerdeman (0-5), who had pitched three perfect innings before surrendering back-to-back walks to Brock Hebert and Jack Reinheimer to open the inning. Justin Seager drove in a run with a base hit and Christian Carmichael knocked in two more with a grounder just inside third base for another hit. Phillips Castillo capped the inning with a three-run home run to left field.
Gerdeman gave up only one other hit in seven innings on the hill and did not walk another batter, facing only one batter over the minimum outside the fourth inning. He struck out six and walked two, surrendering just five hits overall in losing his fifth straight decision.
The Hops open a five-game series at Vancouver Wednesday night before returning home for their penultimate homestand, an eight-game stretch beginning Thursday, August 8 with the first of five games against the Tri-City Americans.