The Vancouver Canadians lost to the Hillsboro Hops in eight-and-a-half innings for the first time at Ron Tonkin Field in 2022 after a 12-8 loss Wednesday.
The Hops went to work early on C’s starter Chad Dallas as Ryan Bliss had an infield single to second base that took Miguel Hiraldo to the shortstop side of the bag. Caleb Roberts followed with a single to center and a Dallas wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position. A shallow fly ball to right by Tim Tawa and a strikeout by Adrian Del Castillo did not get the job done for Hillsboro but a three-run homer by Tristin English did as he clubbed a breaking ball over the left field fence,
Hillsboro put the game away with a big second inning. Dallas walked Danny Oriente and José Curpa singled underneath a diving Hiraldo to right. Bliss then hit one off the end of the bat to bloop a single to center over a leaping Hiraldo to load the bases. Roberts would bring home Oriente with a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-0 Hillsboro. Tawa hit a bouncer to third that handcuffed Riley Tirotta and that resulted in Curpa crossing the plate with Hillsboro’s fifth run. One out later, Tirotta would spear a sharp ground ball from English and tried to start a 5-4-3 double play but the C’s could only get one out as English beat the throw at first to score Bliss with run number six. Spencer Brickhouse delivered the kill shot with a thee-run home run to center field into the Hops bullpen to make it 9-0 for the home side.
A two-out rally in the fourth got Hillsboro into double dights. English singled on a 0-2 pitch from Garrett Farmer and Brickhouse ran the count to ball four. Lyle Lin then singled to right to drive in English.
A leadoff walk to Roby Enriquez by Alex Nolan resulted in another Hillsboro rally in the fifth. Bliss lunged out on a 0-2 pitch to pull a single into left field. Roberts hit a sinking liner right at Hiraldo at second base but Hiraldo could not come up with it and was charged with an E-4. Tawa then pulled a single to left to send Enriquez and Bliss home to up the Hops lead to a dozen.
Vancouver finally reached the pentagon in the sixth off José Santamaria. A two-out double to right by Steward Berroa off the glove of a sliding Tawa at second into right field came into score when Hiraldo hit a rainmaker that just stayed fair to left field for a two-run homer to cut Hillsboro’s lead to 10.
Cameron Eden took one for the team as he was hit by Julio Frias pitch on his left hand to start the seventh. Walks by Harry Ray and Trevor Schwecke loaded the bases and another free pass to P.K. Morris allowed Eden to score. Frias then issued a fourth straight walk to Tirotta to bring in Ray and Hillsboro manager Vince Harrison took the ball from Frias. Berroa kept the line moving for Vancouver with a base hit to left off lefty Liu Fuenmayor to drive in Schwecke. A wild pitch allowed Morris to score Vancouver’s sixth run to cut the deficit in half at 12-6.
Eden got another C’s rally going in the eighth with a leadoff triple to right and would score on a Harry Ray sacrifice fly to left.
Anthony Morales—pinch-hitting for Tirotta—was hit in the right leg by lefthander Hugh Fisher to open the ninth. A passed ball by Shane Muntz got Morales over 90 feet before he tagged up to make it to third on a Berroa fly ball to right. Morales would come home when Fisher threw ball into the Hops first base dugout but time was never called.
C-Notes
Eden had the C’s first hit by leading off the game with a base hit to left field which got by a diving left side of the infield. He got to third on a chopper to the left side of the infield by Addison Barger. A pitch hit Schwecke in the left hand to put him on base but Hillsboro starter Scott Randall induced Morris to hit into an around-the-horn inning-ending double play.
Tirotta made it on base to start the second inning when a high Bliss throw from short pulled Brickhouse off the bag at first. Hiraldo also got aboard on a one-out infield single to the second baseman Tawa who made a diving stop to the shortstop side of second. Andrés Sosa and Mueller would strike out to end the inning.
Eden had his second hit of the night with a leadoff double to left just out of the reach of a leaping Roberts to begin the third inning. He would be stranded there after Barger struck out, Schwecke flied out and Morris grounded out.
Berroa rocketed a triple off the right field fence with one out in the fourth but Hiraldo struck out and was the last batter Randall would face. Santamaria stranded Berroa by ringing up Sosa looking.
Eden was back at it again when he ripped a one-out double down the left field in the fifth but Barger struck out swinging and Schwecke lined out to right.
Just before finally scoring in the sixth, Morris led off with a base hit up the middle past a diving Bliss but Tirotta grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that ended with a bang-bang play at first that did not go the C’s way. Sosa had a two-out walk after Hiraldo’s second homer of the year but was forced out on a 5-4 fielder’s choice by Mueller.
The C’s had two runners in scoring position after scoring four times in the seventh but Hiraldo and Sosa struck out before Mueller flied out.
Sosa had a two-out ground rule double to left-center with two out in the ninth but Mueller fouled out to third to end the game.
Vancouver made some defensive changes in the fifth after being down 10 runs. Harry Ray took over at second, Schwecke moved to shortstop from left to replace Barger, Morris moved to left field from first base while Tirotta switched to first from third.
Eden had two doubles and a triple, finishing a home run shy of the cycle in a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate. Berroa also needed a dinger for the cycle as he went 3-for-5. Hiraldo had two hits while Morris and Sosa had a hit and a walk apiece. Ray, Schwecke and Tirotta each drew a walk with Ray collecting a sacrifice fly and scoring a run.
Vancouver had just two hits in 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men.
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Dallas got just five outs and gave up nine runs (five earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out one to take the loss.
Farmer needed just one pitch to get out of the second inning and gave up just one hit to the first seven men he faced but he gave up a run on three hits and a walk with two whiffs over 2-1/3 innings.
Nolan allowed two runs (one earned) over two innings on two hits and a but struck out the side in the fifth swinging to strand two runners in scoring position. He sat down five in a row, four by strikeout, before a Tirotta throwing error in the third allowed Enriquez to reach first but Nolan got Bliss to fly out to end the sixh.
Will McAffer gave up a hit and walked three but he struck out two in a scoreless seventh and eighth. Berroa helped out McAffer by erasing a Brickhouse leadoff walk in the third when he threw out Brickhouse trying to go from first to third after a Lin single. Despite a wild pitch, an Enrique walk and a Sosa passed ball, McAffer left the two runners in scoring position by striking out Bliss swinging for out number three.
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