Troy's four hits aren't enough in Hillsboro's 9-4 loss to Tri-City

Tommy Troy brought his game, but unfortunately for one of the very few times this season, Avery Short didn’t, and the result was a 9-4 Hops defeat to Tri-City on July 9, at Hillsboro Ballpark.

Troy finished game with four hits, but Short — who has an ERA of 2.87 this season — allowed six earned runs on eight hits in just 2.2 innings of work, with the bulk of the damage coming in the third inning.

The visiting Dust Devils scored seven runs in the third thanks to back-to-back home runs from Caleb Ketchup and Will McGillis to start the inning, and a total of seven total hits.

Hillsboro tried to scratch their way back with single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, along with two in the sixth, the bulk of which came off of Tri-City reliever Roman Phansalkar who allowed three earned runs in 1.2 innings. But the hill proved too steep to climb as Dust Devil relievers Dylan Phillips and Luke Murphy locked the Hops down over the final 3.1 innings, striking out six in the process.

Every Tri-City starter had a hit in the game, while all but two Hops tallied hits.

Troy finished 4-for-5 with two RBI as he continues to work his way back from injury.

The loss was the third straight for Hillsboro.

The two teams will meet again tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Hillsboro Ballpark.