José Mejía crushed a three-run homer in the eighth inning July 23, breaking a 5-5 tie and powering the Hillsboro Hops to an 8-5 win over the Vancouver Canadians at Hops Ballpark.
The victory snapped a brutal stretch for Hillsboro. The Hops had lost 16 of their previous 18 games heading into the contest, according to MiLB.com's game recap by Avari Alley.
Mejía finished the night with two hits, a walk, and four RBI. He also ended the game on defense, turning a double play in the ninth to seal it.
Back and forth all night
Vancouver jumped out 2-0 in the first inning against Junior Ciprian, who was making his first appearance as a Hop. Three walks and a double put the Canadians ahead early, and sacrifice flies in the third extended their lead to 4-1.
Hillsboro clawed back. JD Dix singled home two runs in the third to cut it to 4-3. Mejía singled in the tying run in the fourth to knot it at 4-4.
Vancouver regained the lead 5-4 in the sixth on a bases-loaded double play that scored a run. But Brady Counsell reached on a dropped third strike, advanced to third on a throwing error by Vancouver first baseman Peyton Williams, and Avery Owusu-Asiedu singled him home to tie it 5-5.
The game stayed knotted until the eighth. Owusu-Asiedu walked, Slade Caldwell was hit by a pitch, and Mejía launched his go-ahead three-run shot to put the Hops up 8-5 for good.
Pitching holds up
Ciprian battled through 4.2 innings, racking up seven strikeouts despite the shaky first. Reliever John West allowed no runs across four innings of relief, striking out three. The Hops' staff combined for 11 strikeouts on the night.
Losing skid in context
Hillsboro entered the Vancouver series having won just two of 18 games. They dropped Game 1 on Tuesday, July 21, by a score of 9-8, and Game 2 on Wednesday, July 22, by 8-6 after blowing a 6-2 lead.
As of the July 22 loss, the Hops sat eight games behind first-place Spokane in the Northwest League second-half standings, per the Hillsboro News-Times.
Thursday's win moved the series to 2-1 Vancouver with three games remaining.
Up next
Game 4 is set for Friday, July 24, at 6:35 p.m. at Hops Ballpark. The pregame show airs at 6:20 p.m. on 620 AM RipCity Radio.
