Despite leaving with a 5-4 lead after five innings of work, Chase Mallard ended up with a no decision as the bullpen allowed the Hillboro Hops to complete their comeback and beat the Vancouver Canadians in game one of the Northwest League finals.

 

 

Vancouver Canadians 5, Hillsboro Hops 7

 

After scoring five runs in the first two innings, the Vancouver bats went silent as Jared Miller, Rob Wort and Zac Curtis combined to shut down the offense for the final seven innings. In fact, the Canadians got only two of their seven hits after the second inning. Key figures in the first and second inning rallies were Franklin Barreto (1/5, R, RBI), Ryan McBroom (1/5, 2 RBI), Richard Urena (1/4) and Roemon Fields (1/1, 2B, BB, 2 R).

 

Mallard started the game, going five innings and was touched for four runs but still left with the lead before Alberto Tirado conceded two runs in the sixth (on a home run and two walks). Jose Fernandez allowed an unearned run on two hits in the seventh while Yeyfry Del Rosario and Justin Shafer each contributed a scoreless inning to finish the game.

 

Game two of the series is at 8:00 PM ET with Matt Smoral on the mound for Vancouver. Vancouver is in a must-win situation, being behind 1-0 in the best-of-three series with the Hops as the series moves to Ron Tonkin Field in Hillboro, Oregon.

 

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