Hops' postseason hopes dwindle with 9-4 loss to Tri-City

In a week in which the Hops can ill-afford a loss, they suffered one in the first of their six-game series with Tri-City, losing to the Dust Devils 9-4 on Tuesday night, Sept. 3, at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.

From the beginning and nearly to the end, Hillsboro pitching was battered by the home Devils, with four Hops pitchers allowing two or more runs apiece before Jorge Minyety stopped the bleeding in the eighth inning.

Starting Hillsboro pitcher Jacob Steinmetz pitched just two innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, while issuing three base-on-balls.

Tri-City scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the fourth, the last two of which tied the game after the Hops put a three-spot on the board in the top half of that same inning. But opposed to Hillsboro, the Devils kept their foot on the pedal, getting two runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to put the game on ice.

Adrian Placencia, Juan Flores and Jadiel Sanchez did the bulk of the heavy lifting for Tri-City, combining to go 12-for-14 with seven RBI and seven runs scored.

Flores was 4-for-4 with five RBI on his own.

In all, the Devils outhit the Hops 13-6.

Six different Hops had hits in the game, but none had more than one.

With the loss, Hillsboro fell four games behind second-place Vancouver with just five games remaining, leaving the team with little choice but to win its remaining five games if its hope to make the playoffs.

The two teams will meet again at 6:30 p.m. this evening, at Gesa Stadium.