Greensboro Earns Series Win behind Grand Performances from Dominguez and Stanton
Hickory, N.C. – Mike Stanton and Matt Dominguez each hit grand slams as Greensboro won its fourth consecutive game, 17-11, Wednesday on the road against Hickory.
Greensboro’s 17 runs were the most all season as Stanton and Dominguez each drove in five runs for the Hoppers come-from-behind victory that saw them over come deficits of 5-0 and 10-7.
Stanton’s home run was his third in as many nights of the current series against Hickory and his league-leading 33rd blast of the season. Currently the 18-year-old prospect is tied for the fourth most home runs in all of Minor League Baseball on a list that is heavily plastered with names of Double-A and Triple-A players.
The Hoppers fell behind by five runs after the first two innings, but scored eight runs in the next three frames to grab their first lead thanks to Stanton’s first career grand slam as part of a five-run fourth inning. It was short-lived, however, as the Crawdads put their own five-spot on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning to reclaim the lead.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the only frame in which neither team scored Wednesday night, the Hoppers rallied with a run in the seventh to pull within one before Torre Langley, fresh off the franchise’s first cycle during Tuesday’s victory, delivered a two-out, two-run double in the eighth to give Greensboro the lead for good.
Langley’s double was one of six Greensboro doubles in the contest and one of the Hoppers’ eight extra-base hits on the night. Greensboro was out-hit in the game 16-14, but made the most of the 14 hits they did get.
Holding just a one-run lead as they entered the ninth inning, Greensboro made sure to put the game out of reach for Hickory by adding a handful of runs to the board which was capped off by Dominguez’s second grand slam of the year.
The top four batters in manager Edwin Rodriguez’s lineup scored 11 runs. Ryan Curry, batting in the leadoff position, went 2-for-2 at the plate, both hits were doubles, and scored four runs. Curry was also walked a team-high four times and reached base in all six of his plate appearances.
Tom Hickman scored a hat-trick of runs in the two-slot while Stanton and Dominguez each crossed the plate twice as the three and four hitters, respectively. Tyler Belcher scored twice from the ninth position in the batting order. He led the Hoppers with a 3-for-5 performance which included a pair of doubles.
All of Greensboro’s offensive numbers in the contest made it easy to forgive and forget the fact that starter Kyle Kaminska gave up five runs on seven hits in just two innings of work. The Hoppers were forced to go to their bullpen early and used six pitchers in all.
Peter Andrelczyk picked up his first win in a Grasshoppers uniform after pitching during Greensboro’s seventh and eighth inning rally. He allowed just one run in his two inning on the hill and struck out a career high four.
Greensboro and Hickory meet for the final time this season Thursday when the Hoppers will be in pursuit of their first sweep since June 9-11 when they took three straight from Lexington. The Grasshoppers have only swept one four-game series all season; they accomplished that feat on May 12-15 when they won all four games of a series against now-Northern Division-leading Lakewood.
Right-handed hurler Alex Sanabia (5-4, 4.44) will look to extend the Hoppers’ win streak to five games when he takes to the mound for the series finale. Greensboro is currently riding its longest win streak since winning five straight June 8-12.
Postgame Quick Stats
Win – Peter Andrelcyzk (1-3); Loss – Serguey Linares (0-2); Save – None
Time – 3:30 (:20 delay); Attendance – 801
*****from gsohoppers.com*****