July 2 (Hillsboro, OR)- The Hillsboro Hops dropped their third straight game against the Spokane Indians 5-4, marking their fourth straight loss overall. They went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and left eleven on base. The Indians hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to take the edge over the Hops.
Brian Curley represented Hillsboro, and Everett Catlett represented Spokane as the starters on the bump today. The Hops got to Catlett first, scoring two runs in the second. Kayson Cunningham drew a walk to start, and Kenny Castillo singled. A wild pitch advanced both runners to scoring position. Brady Counsell then hit an RBI single to center field, scoring one run, and Avery Owusu-Asiedu hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 ballgame.
The Indians responded in the top of the third, with Roynier Hernandez hitting a two-out double. Ethan Hedges then singled to put runners on the corners. Tanner Thach doubled, bringing in Hernandez, and Jacob Humphrey then hit an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out for Spokane in the fifth. A sacrifice fly hit to the warning track by Humphrey scored one run, and Curley recorded a strikeout to escape the jam. By the end of the fifth, the Indians had racked up eight hits against him. Curley recorded two outs in the sixth before Taylor Montiel took over for him. He recorded eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs.
Carlos Virahonda led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and a wild pitch advanced him to second. Castillo hit a single to put runners on first and second, and Wallace Clark doubled to tie the game at 3-3.
The Hops drew three straight walks in the seventh off Spokane reliever Tyler Hampu. After recording a strikeout, Hampu gave up a fourth walk to put Hillsboro up 4-3.
For Spokane, Kelvin Hidalgo and Tommy Hopfe hit back-to-back solo homers in the top of the ninth to take back the lead 5-4. Zane Russell took over with one on and two out, intentionally walked a batter to put runners on first and second. He gave up another walk to load the bases, and recorded a strikeout to get out of the inning, but the damage had already been done with the Indians taking the 5-4 win over the Hops.
Game four of the series begins at 7:05 PM on Friday night at Hillsboro Ballpark. The pregame show will start at 6:45 PM on 620 AM RipCity Radio and BallyLive.