The Hillsboro Hops held a lead this time.

One night after blowing an eight-run cushion in a historic 12-10 collapse, the Hops built an early advantage and made it stick, defeating the Spokane Indians 5-2 on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Avista Stadium.

Left-hander Caden Grice anchored the effort on the mound, striking out six and walking just one over 5 2/3 innings to earn the win and improve to 3-6. The Clemson product has walked only one batter across his last two starts and 11 2/3 innings pitched.

Yassel Soler got things rolling with a solo home run to center field in the second inning, his 12th of the season. Kayson Cunningham followed with a two-run double off the base of the left-field fence in the third to push the lead to 3-0. Carlos Virahonda, the Diamondbacks' No. 5 prospect who ranks second in the Northwest League in on-base percentage at .429, singled home an insurance run in the fifth to finish 3-for-4.

J.D. Dix went 2-for-4 with two walks and two runs scored, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Jakey Josepha added two hits for his fourth multi-hit game during a five-game streak. The Hops pounded out 11 hits total but stranded 13 runners.

Relievers Joangel Gonzalez and Joe Ariola combined for 2 1/3 shutout innings before Luke Craig allowed a run in the ninth. Spokane loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before Craig got Ethan Hedges to ground out to Cunningham at shortstop to end it.

The win mattered beyond the box score. Vancouver lost 6-4 at Eugene on Wednesday, and the Hops picked up a game in the second-half playoff race, according to the MiLB.com game recap. Hillsboro now trails the Canadians by seven games with 16 left to play. The Hops hold the tiebreaker, having won the season series against Vancouver.

The math is still steep. A seven-game winning streak in early August pulled Hillsboro from eight games back to three, but the club dropped six of eight before this series. At 21-29 in the second half and 53-63 overall, the Hops need to keep stacking wins while hoping Vancouver stumbles.

The season series with Spokane sits dead even at 13-13 heading into Game 3 on Thursday, Aug. 20, with radio coverage at 6:30 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM. After the Spokane series wraps, the Hops return home to face Tri-City beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25.