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NWL Hillsboro Hops

Another Hard Pfaadt Win as Hops Blank Ems

August 14, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release


The Hillsboro Hops have sent a half dozen quality starting pitchers to AA Amarillo this year, but right hander Brandon Pfaadt has been the equal of any of them.

The Louisville native throttled Eugene on three hits over seven innings before giving way to the Hops bullpen, which completed a four-hit shutout in a 7-0 victory over the Emeralds (50-38) in front of 2,809 at Ron Tonkin Field Friday night.

The win pulls Hillsboro (42-45) to within 7 1/2 games of second-place Eugene in the High-A-West League standings with two games remaining in the series and eight games left against the Ems this season.

The Hops jumped on Eugene starting pitcher Jake Dahlberg for four runs in the first inning. The southpaw from Vancouver, Washington was making only his fourth start for the Ems since being signed by the Giants out of the independent American Association, where he was pitching for the Chicago Dogs. Dahlberg (1-2) surrendered seven runs on seven hits in four innings with three strikeouts and one base on balls.

Pfaadt (5-4) allowed only two runners as far as second base in becoming the Hops winningest pitcher this season. Eugene catcher Ricardo Genoves led off the second inning with a bloop single down the right field line and lefty-hitting Logan Wyatt , like Pfaadt a Louisville native, beat the shift with a single past second. Pfaadt struck out Franklin Labour before Heath Quinn hit a soft liner toward third. Hillsboro's 6-5 third baseman A.J. Vukovich had the ball go off his glove, but that set up an easy double play as he stepped on third base and threw to second for the inning-ending force to get Wyatt.

A two-out double by Tyler Fitzgerald was the only other baserunner as Pfaadt retired the final 13 batters he faced, striking out six with no walks to win his third consecutive game. It was the Hops' first shutout win since Pfaadt blanked the Vancouver Canadians on July 14 with a complete game four-hitter. Eugene put two on base in the ninth, but Denson Hull struck out the side to preserve the shutout.

Blaze Alexander paced the Hops offense with two hits, two runs and three runs batted in, including his seventh home run of the season leading off the fourth inning. Vukovich hit a pair of RBI doubles in four at bats and Eduardo Diaz homered for the fourth straight game, leading off the fifth with a solo shot to left. He is one away from tying Trevor Mitsui's record of homers in five straight games, set in 2015. Mitsui's single-season home run record of ten is long-since retired by the red-hot Diaz, who has hit in five straight games and 13 of the last 14, with eight home runs during that stretch. Jorge Barrosa also extended a hitting streak to nine games with three hits, including two doubles and two runs scored. Barrosa is one away from becoming the fifth Hop with a 10-game hit streak this season.

With Spokane's victory at Tri-City Friday, the Hops remain a game behind the third-place Indians in the standings. Everett held off a late rally to defeat Vancouver 9-7 to extend its lead to five games over second place Eugene.

The Hops and Emeralds play game five of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night. Pre-game airtime is 6:05 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.

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