HILLSBORO, Ore. (August 30, 2026) — The Hillsboro Hops saved one of their best stretches of the season for the final week of their season series with Tri-City. Hillsboro took five of six games from the Dust Devils this week, closing the 30-game season series with a 7-3 victory Sunday afternoon at Hops Ballpark to even the overall matchup at 15-15. The five-win week was the Hops’ best week since the start of last season.
The Hops jumped on Tri-City starter Chase Shores immediately, sending eight batters to the plate in the first inning and building a 3-0 lead before the Dust Devils could record the final out. José Mejía opened the scoring by drawing a one-out walk and eventually came around on Carlos Virahonda's line-drive single to center. Kayson Cunningham followed with another single, and Chris Katz worked a walk to load the bases.
Yerald Nin then delivered the biggest hit of the inning, lining a single to left that chased Shores from the game after 38 pitches. After Shores was replaced by Benny Thompson, Adrian Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Virahonda and give Hillsboro a three-run cushion. Shores had previously dominated the Hops in three previous outings in 2026, including two of his best outings as a pro.
That was more than enough for Jacob Steinmetz, who kept Tri-City off the board through the first four innings. Steinmetz had not allowed an earned run in 10.2 innings with the Hops and that streak continued on Sunday.
Steinmetz allowed just two hits over 4⅔ scoreless innings, striking out five. The right-hander worked around traffic early, including a pair of first-inning walks, but settled in to retire six of the next seven batters.
Hillsboro added to its lead in the fourth. Jakey Josepha drew a walk and immediately stole second, his 19th stolen base of the season. After Mejía lined out, Cunningham ripped a ground-rule double into left-center field, bringing Josepha home and extending the lead to 4-0. With two outs in the fourth, Abdias De La Cruz sent a fly ball over the left-field wall for his third home run of the season, a 400+ foot shot to give the Hops a 5-0 advantage.
Tri-City finally found an answer in the sixth against Joangel Gonzalez. Ryland Zaborowski opened the inning with a ground-rule double, and Jonny McGill followed with a double of his own to put runners at second and third.
Peter Burns brought home Zaborowski with a sacrifice fly to center, and after McGill advanced to third on the play, a wild pitch allowed him to score. Suddenly, the Dust Devils had cut the deficit to 5-2.
The visitors made things even more interesting in the seventh. Hayden Alvarez was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to third on Jorge Ruiz's sharp single that was deflected by first baseman Chris Katz. Harold Coll followed with a grounder that turned into a force play, allowing Alvarez to score and trimming the Hops' lead to 5-3. Gonzalez's day ended after the play, with Rocco Reid entering from the bullpen.
The Hops responded before Tri-City could get any closer. Kayson Cunningham was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the seventh, and Virahonda followed with a single to put two runners aboard. The pair then executed a double steal, with Cunningham taking third and Virahonda swiping second. Chris Katz walked to load the bases, and Yassel Soler followed with a four-pitch walk that forced Cunningham home. Nin then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Virahonda to score and restoring Hillsboro's four-run advantage at 7-3.
Reid then retired Tri-City in order in the eighth before working around a two-out walk in the ninth to finish off the victory. He struck out three over 2⅓ scoreless innings to earn his second save.
Cunningham finished 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Virahonda also had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. De La Cruz added the solo homer, while Nin drove in two runs. Hillsboro also put on the Dust Devils with four stolen bases. Josepha stole twice to reach 20 on the season, while Cunningham and Virahonda each swiped a bag in the seventh-inning rally.
The Hops finished 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. Tri-City went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.
The victory completed a remarkable turnaround in the season series. After 30 meetings, the Hops and Dust Devils finished dead even at 15-15, with Hillsboro winning five of the six games played this week.
The Hops will open their final series of the year at PK Park in Eugene on Tuesday for the first of three before coming back home for Friday-Sunday to wrap up the 2026 season. You can catch all the action for the final week of the season on Rip City Radio 620 AM with Rich Burk, Matt Richert and Seth Hoiland.