The Hillsboro Hops' best stretch of the season is gone.
Spokane swept all six games at Hops Ballpark from Tuesday, June 30, through Sunday, July 5, outscoring Hillsboro 27-12 and dropping the Hops from first place in the Northwest League's second-half standings to five games behind the Indians. Sunday's 9-3 finale extended Hillsboro's losing streak to seven games, counting one defeat before the series began.
One week earlier, the Hops sat at 6-3 in the second half after winning five consecutive series. They enter the new week at 6-9.
Starters delivered, bullpen didn't
The cruelest part of the sweep: Hillsboro's starting pitchers were excellent. David Hagaman, Rio Britton and Caden Grice combined to allow just one earned run on seven hits while striking out 21 batters over 17 innings, according to the Hillsboro News-Times' weekly recap. None earned a win.
Hagaman's Game 1 outing on Tuesday, June 30, set the tone. Fresh off being named NWL Pitcher of the Week, the right-hander retired 21 of 24 batters, struck out nine and threw seven scoreless innings. Then reliever Joangel Gonzalez walked three and hit a batter in the eighth, and Spokane won 2-0.
The pattern repeated. On Wednesday, July 1, Britton left after five innings with a 3-1 lead. The bullpen surrendered four runs over the seventh and eighth in a 5-3 loss. On Thursday, July 2, Brian Curley struck out eight in 5.2 innings and handed off a 4-3 lead entering the ninth. Kevin Hidalgo and Tommy Hopfe hit back-to-back solo home runs to steal a 5-4 win.
Three games, three late-inning collapses.
Offense went cold
Hillsboro batted .201 for the series with just two home runs. The Hops' 12 runs were the fewest by any NWL team over the six-game stretch; the next-lowest club scored 20.
Kenny Castillo was the lone bright spot, leading the team at .286 with four RBIs across six games. Slade Caldwell went 5-for-18 with a solo homer in Game 2. Beyond those two, the lineup went quiet. Spokane reliever Hunter Mann punctuated the offensive struggles in Game 1's ninth inning, striking out the Hops' three first-round picks — Caldwell, J.D. Dix and Kayson Cunningham — in succession.
Hopfe torched the Hops
Spokane's Tommy Hopfe batted .400 with two home runs during the series and extended his hitting streak to 21 consecutive games as of Sunday, July 5, the longest active streak in professional baseball, according to MiLB records.
Record crowds, rough results
The Hops set back-to-back single-game attendance records during the series. A crowd of 5,184 packed Hops Ballpark on Friday, July 3, and 5,740 fans broke that mark on Saturday, July 4. The fans saw two losses.
What's next
Hillsboro travels to Tri-City for a road series before the NWL All-Star Break, which runs Monday, July 13, through Thursday, July 16. After the break, the Hops head to Eugene for three games against the Ems, then return home for two consecutive weeks.
