Murphy Lays Down Law against Hops
August 15, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
The Hillsboro Hops became the first team in the High A West League to plate an earned run against Ryan Murphy, but the top strikeout artist in minor league baseball quickly righted the ship and kept the Hops (42-46) in check over seven innings.
The Eugene Emeralds (51-38) unloaded against the Hillsboro bullpen to break open a close game, then held off a late rally to knock off the Hops 11-6 at Ron Tonkin Field Saturday night.
Murphy (2-1), a New York native making only his third start with Eugene, surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk in the first inning before retiring 15 straight and 19 of the last 20 batters he faced. Entering the night, Murphy, a fifth-round 2020 draft pick out of Division II Le Moyne College in Syracuse, was second in all of minor league baseball in strikeouts, but fanned nine Hops with the lone walk in improving to 2-1 with Eugene. He has now fanned 141 batters with only 21 walks in 93 1/3 innings at Eugene and Low-A San Jose.
The Hops hung tough, trailing just 3-2 into the seventh inning after Justin Vernia (2-4) completed six solid innings on the hill, allowing eight hits with a season-high six strikeouts and one walk. But the Emeralds would double their hit total in the final three innings, tattooing relievers Kai-Wei Lin and Bobby Ay for eight hits and eight runs in the final three innings.
After Robert Emery 's three-run homer and Tyler Fitzgerald 's solo shot off Kai-Wei Lin in the eighth inning put the Ems up 8-2, the Hops would make it interesting in their half of the eighth. Hillsboro loaded the bases with two walks and a Cam Coursey infield hit off Eugene reliever Ryan Walker . Tristin English followed with an RBI groundout to score Roman Ruiz , bringing Andy Yerzy to the plate. The Hops' all-time home runs leader fouled off six two-strike pitches from Walker before lofting his ninth home run of the year (23rd career) into the right field netting to pull the Hops within 8-6 going into the ninth.
But the excitement in the Tonkin Field crowd of 2,388 soon fizzled as a leadoff walk to Franklin Labour opened the door to a three-run ninth inning for Eugene off Ay. Emery and Armani Smith each collected their fourth hits of the night. Emery went 4-for-5 with five runs batted in and two runs scored. Smith was 4-for-6 with two RBI and one run.
The Emeralds outhit the Hops 16-5 on the night to pull within four games of first-place Everett, while the Hops slipped back to 8 1/2 games behind Eugene heading into Sunday's series finale. Game time is 1:05 p.m. with pregame airtime at 12:50 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Northwest League Stories from August 15, 2021
- Roby's Eighth Inning Blast Lifts Ems Over Hops - Eugene Emeralds
- Another Split Decision as Hops Fall to Ems - Hillsboro Hops
- Canadians' Power at the Plate Persists, 11-6 - Everett AquaSox
- Murphy Lays Down Law against Hops - Hillsboro Hops
- Canadians Attack Early, Often to Beat AquaSox - Vancouver Canadians
- Bats Roar Back to Life While Murphy Is Masterful on the Mound - Eugene Emeralds
- Bats Held Quiet on Saturday Night - Tri-City Dust Devils
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