Dean Livingston struck out six over five innings in his High-A debut, and the Hillsboro Hops rallied for four runs in the sixth to beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 4-2 at Hops Ballpark on Thursday, Aug. 27.

The win was Hillsboro's fifth straight and seventh in their last eight games. The Hops now sit five games behind the Vancouver Canadians for the Northwest League's final playoff spot with nine games remaining.

Livingston, a 19-year-old right-hander promoted from Single-A Visalia, needed just 64 pitches to get through five frames. He allowed three hits, walked two and surrendered one run. The Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline set the tone early, striking out Kendrey Maduro and Jorge Ruiz in the first inning, then escaping a two-on jam in the second by fanning Kevyn Castillo and Harold Coll back-to-back.

The D-backs had named Livingston their Single-A Pitcher of the Month for July after he posted a 1.83 ERA in four starts with Visalia. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2025 Draft out of Hebron Christian Academy in Georgia.

Tri-City's only run against Livingston came in the fifth. Capri Ortiz tripled with one out, and Alberto Rios singled him home before getting thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.

Meanwhile, Dust Devils starter Yeferson Vargas blanked the Hops through five innings. Then the sixth unraveled. Vargas walked three straight batters to load the bases with nobody out. Jakey Josepha lined a two-run double to right field for a 2-1 lead. A sacrifice fly and a Chris Katz double stretched it to 4-1.

Right-hander Kyle Ayers followed Livingston with four innings of one-run relief, striking out two to earn the win. Tri-City got one back in the eighth when Maduro tripled home Rios, but that was all.

Yerald Nin led the Hops with three hits.

The victory gave Hillsboro a 3-0 series lead, according to the Hops' game recap on MiLB.com. The Hops need one more win in the final three games to clinch the series.

@HillsboroHops: "Five in a roWWWWW. #AllHoppedUp"

Hillsboro trails by five games with nine to play. The 11-8 win Wednesday, Aug. 26, in 12 innings featured Yassel Soler's walk-off three-run homer to center, his second walk-off home run of the season at Hops Ballpark, now in its inaugural year.

Game 4 is Friday, Aug. 28, at 6:35 p.m. at Hops Ballpark. The pregame show airs at 6:20 on Rip City Radio 620 AM.