Last night the Greensboro Grasshoppers opened their doors to all their four-legged fans. It was the first “Bark at the Park†night, where fans were allowed to bring their dogs to the game. Many people took advantage of the opportunity. The dogs didn’t sit in the seating bowl, and instead were allowed to roam free from Natty’s Hill in left field.
For the second Tuesday in a row, Hoppers fans were treated to a fine starting pitching performance. Last week, it was Graham Taylor with a complete game win and last night Michael Hyle threw eight innings of five-hit ball, allowing only one earned run as the Greensboro Grasshoppers rallied past the Asheville Tourists 4-3.
The game shouldn’t have been that close, with sloppy defense costing the Hoppers a run in each of the first two innings. They went ahead for the first time in the game when, in the eighth inning, the Hoppers played small ball.
Chris Hatcher reached on an error by Asheville shortstop Hector Gomez. He was then sacrificed to second, went to third on a wild pitch and was then driven home on an RBI double by John Raynor.
Brad Stone pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season.
The Grasshoppers return to action this afternoon for the third game of the series. Gametime is 12:30pm. If you can’t sneak away from work, catch all the action on WPET 950AM with our own Andy Durham on the call.