Hops Blank Canadians For Third Consecutive W

The first two batters for Hillsboro Wednesday night recorded outs, but it was a positive sign of things to come.

Trent Youngblood smashed a laser line drive to first and Yassel Soler was robbed on a fine defensive play up the middle, but the Hops (9-14) continued to mash, collecting 11 hits in a 7-0 shutout win over the Vancouver Canadians (9-14) at Nat Bailey Stadium in B.C.

Four Hops pitchers combined to limit Vancouver to five hits, striking out 15 C's hitters one night after a combined 16 strikeout effort in a 5-3 victory.

Alberto Barriga was the star of the show. The fifth-year catcher out of Tierra Blanca in Mexico went 3-for-4 on the night and homered for the second consecutive night, finishing with three runs batted in. A defensive standout behind the plate, Barriga reached base four times and erased a Vancouver base runner with a pickoff throw to first in the fifth inning.

Wellington Aracena got the start on the mound, but couldn't quite get to the finish line to qualify for the win, falling two outs short of the requisite five innings. The talented righty, acquired in a February trade that sent former Hops shortstop Blaze Alexander to the Orioles, limited the C's to three hits over 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk, lowering his season earned run average to 1.23.

For the third consecutive game, all wins, the Hops got sterling work out of a beleaguered bullpen. Nate Savino (2-1) entered he night with an ERA over 12, but carded four strikeouts over 1 2/3 scoreless innings, benefiting from Barriga's backpick of Maddox Latta, which erased a Vancouver scoring threat in the fifth inning.

Yordin Chalas, assigned to the Hops Tuesday out of extended spring training, made his season debut with a scoreless seventh inning, routinely hitting 97-98 on the Nat Bailey Stadium radar gun. Sawyer Hawks closed out the night with five strikeouts over the final two hitless innings, fanning the side in the ninth after back-to-back walks.

Hillsboro parlayed a pair of hits and a double steal from Yerald Nin and Barriga in the second inning into the first run of the game when Modeifi Marte plated Nin with a ground out to short. It was the first earned run allowed this year by Vancouver starting pitcher Danny Thompson (0-1), who had allowed just one unearned run over 16 innings this season.

The Hops raked Thompson for seven hits over 3 1/3 innings, the key blow coming after he gave way to reliever Trace Baker. WIth two outs and the bases loaded on three singles off Thompson, Trent Youngblood cleared them with a double to right center giving Hillsboro a 4-0 lead.

The Hops had four extra base hits, tying for the second-most hits in a game this season in just their third game with a double-digit hit total. Barriga drove in a run with a two-out RBI single in the seventh before capping the scoring output with a ninth-inning two-run jack to left off Reece Wissinger, who was making his High-A debut. It was Barriga's third home run of the season, tying him with Soler and Avery Owusu-Asiedu for team lead.

Fan favorite Dub Gleed and Tucker Toman each had two hits for the Canadians. Toman had a double, but was thrown out by Youngblood after trying to stretch a single to right field into a double in the second inning.

The Hops and Canadians play their final night game of the week Thursday night before wrapping up the season with three 1:05 p.m. games over the weekend. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 on Rip City Radio 620 AM.