Grasshoppers drop two today at NewBridge Bank Park and Braves get the sweep:Hoppers get swept, nobody wept, and boy the records that I should have kept…..

The two games that the Greensboro Grasshoppers should have won, in the series with the Rome Braves, were the Saturday night game and Game One of today’s doubleheader….

Saturday night Ramon Del Orbe did an outstanding job on the hill for the Hoppers and the Grasshoppers led the game, 1-0, going to the 9th innning and from there the Braves broke through for two runs and went on to win the game, 2-1 on Saturday night…

Del Orbe was pitching like a master pianist and he was the miestro through five innings on Saturday night and then the Hoppers were forced to pull him due to the Marlins’ five-inning limit for pitchers, early in the season….

Jheyson Manzueta came in and he had it going his way too, working the 6th and 7th innings and then Blake Logan came on to close it out and he didn’t bring his good/best stuff with him on Saturday night….And you look up and see he is going to have to face Brian McCann(Atlanta Braves) in that 9th and you know McCann has been held in check all night long and you just know, you may be in for trouble and the Hoppers were, as Logan hit the lead-off man, gave up a double to the right field corner to McCann and then saw the Braves get a bloop single that scored the go-ahead run, as Carlos Franco was running for McCann at second and he came on in to score…..Braves win it, 2-1 on Saturday night and that was game that Greensboro Grasshoppers should have won, but they didn’t and then time to move on right???

You move on to Monday morning, after the Sunday afternoon rainout and the Hoppers have Drew Steckenrider throwing and this kid has been hot before and he gets hot again…..Steck had the Rome Braves on lock-down and he would not give up a single run in his five innings of work and he matched his previous high total of eight strikeouts, that he attained earlier during April at home, for the Hopers….

Eight big K’s for Andrew Steckenrider and he was in total control and he came into today ready to roll, but he had to leave after five innings, as that five-inning limit for pitchers came into play again today and Miguel Fermin came on to finish it up and wouldn’t you know it, the Hoppers and Braves were going toe-to-toe, with neither team able to gain any ground and we have a score-less game, as we worked in the bottom of the sixth inning and if the Hoppers could just get the one run, they would be in line to win the game and finish off the Braves in the top of the 7th inning…..

The Hoppers got a single from Alfredo Lopez and then he proceeded to get caught stealing on a throw down to second base, by Atlanta Braves All-Star catcher Brian McCann…Lopez taken off of the bases and then later in the same inning, the Hoppers come up with a key double(Cameron Flynn), that would have scored Lopez if would have still been on base…..

Hoppers had the win 1-0 on Saturday night headed to the ninth and they had the contest in Game One today, with the final score coming in the way of the Hoppers 1-0 again, if they get that run in the bottom of the sixth inning…..

A couple of 1-0 victories sure would have been nice and they would have soothed the soul and made the spirits rise to a higher level than what see, as we sit around thinking about the four-game sweep by the Braves….I used to be a fairly big Braves fan, but not any more….Need those wins for the home team, ‘The Gate City Nine’…..Anything else is pure heresy…..

Didn’t get the two wins and ehd up losing four to the Braves and still should have beat them two times with National League All-Star Brian McCann in the lineup…….

I need to start keeping two sets of records, one that shows the actual outcome of the game and one set of records that shows ‘what might have been’……I have some mental film on those games that we can break down and show at 11pm on WFMY NEWS 2 Sports…..If I could just find that old VHS player I used to have in my back room and get that working again….

Hoppers get swept, nobody wept, and boy the records that I should have kept…..

Like to get these in when we can….
Box Score from Game One today:(Courtesy of the South Atlantic League)
Rome Braves
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Jose Peraza SS 5 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .263
Levi Hyams 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .310
Brian McCann C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .273
Tyler Tewell C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .245
Josh Elander LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .316
Carlos Franco 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .215
Casey Kalenkosky DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .280
Joey Meneses RF 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .190
Aris Alcantara 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091
Felix Marte CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .222
Totals 35 1 7 0 0 0 1 2 11 .229

BATTING
TB: Franco; Marte, F; Meneses; Hyams; Peraza 3.
RBI: Peraza (4).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Elander; Meneses; McCann; Hyams.
SAC: Alcantara, A.
Team RISP: 2-for-8.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Franco 2 (5, 2nd base off Fermin/Caldwell, 3rd base off Fermin/Caldwell).
CS: Peraza (3, 2nd base by Reed, F/Caldwell).
PO: Peraza (1st base by Reed, F).

FIELDING
E: Peraza (10, fielding), Franco (11, fielding).

Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Juancito Martinez CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .178
Cameron Flynn LF 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283
Matt Juengel 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279
Viosergy Rosa 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .273
Jesus Solorzano DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .321
Cody Keefer RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224
Anthony Gomez SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .261
Tony Caldwell C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .184
Alfredo Lopez 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .212
Totals 34 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 5 .254

BATTING
2B: Flynn (2, Perez, Wi).
TB: Lopez, A; Flynn 2; Martinez, J; Rosa.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gomez, A; Flynn; Juengel; Caldwell 2.
SAC: Solorzano.
Team RISP: 0-for-6.
Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING
SB: Martinez, J (10, 2nd base off Perez, Wi/McCann).
CS: Lopez, A (1, 2nd base by Perez, Wi/McCann).

FIELDING
Pickoffs: Reed, F (Peraza at 1st base).

Rome Braves
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Williams Perez 6.0 4 0 0 0 3 0 3.08
Greg Ross (W, 1-0) 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.47
Shae Simmons (S, 8) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.25
Totals 10.0 4 0 0 0 5 0 3.99
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Drew Steckenrider 5.0 1 0 0 1 8 0 4.58
Miguel Fermin 2.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0.71
Dane Stone (L, 3-1) 2.1 4 1 1 1 1 0 2.40
Frankie Reed 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.77
Totals 10.0 7 1 1 2 11 0 4.35

WP: Stone.
Groundouts-flyouts: Perez, Wi 8-2, Ross, G 8-1, Simmons 2-0, Steckenrider 6-0, Fermin 3-0, Stone 3-0, Reed, F 0-1.
Batters faced: Perez, Wi 21, Ross, G 11, Simmons 3, Steckenrider 17, Fermin 8, Stone 12, Reed, F 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Reed, F 2-0.
Ejections: Rome Braves Manager Randy Ingle ejected by HP umpire Lewis WilliamsIII (8th)
Umpires: HP: Lewis WilliamsIII. 1B: Ryan Wills.
Weather: 60 degrees, overcast.
Wind: 1 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:25.

Game Two Box Score Courtesy of the South Atlantic League:
Rome Braves
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Ronald Luna SS 5 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .286
Levi Hyams 2B 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 .304
Josh Elander LF 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .309
Nick DeSantiago C 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .111
Carlos Franco 3B 3 3 2 0 0 1 3 1 0 .232
Tyler Tewell DH 4 1 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 .281
Aris Alcantara 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .102
Blake Brown CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .151
Felix Marte RF 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 .227
Totals 31 9 13 2 1 2 8 6 7 .236

BATTING
2B: Marte, F (2, Brice), Luna (3, Brice).
3B: Hyams (1, Brice).
HR: Franco (1, 1st inning off Brice, 2 on, 2 out), Tewell (1, 7th inning off Ellington, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Franco 5; Luna 4; Marte, F 2; Tewell 6; Hyams 3; Brown, B; DeSantiago; Alcantara, A.
RBI: Franco 3 (13), Tewell 3 (6), Luna (3), Hyams (5).
2-out RBI: Franco 3.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Brown, B 2.
GIDP: Elander.
Team RISP: 4-for-9.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Franco (6, 2nd base off Brice/Othman), Tewell (2, 3rd base off Brice/Othman).
CS: Luna (3, 2nd base by Brice/Othman), Franco (1, 2nd base by Reyes, H/Othman).
PO: Luna (1st base by Brice).

FIELDING
E: DeSantiago (3, throw).

Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Juancito Martinez CF 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .187
Cody Keefer DH 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 .225
Jesus Solorzano RF 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 .322
Viosergy Rosa 1B 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .272
Matt Juengel 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .278
Cameron Flynn LF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286
Anthony Gomez SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .264
Sharif Othman C 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 .172
Yeison Hernandez 2B 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .349
Totals 29 6 9 1 0 4 6 3 4 .256

BATTING
2B: Hernandez, Ye (3, Rohde).
HR: Rosa (7, 1st inning off Scoggin, 0 on, 2 out), Keefer (2, 3rd inning off Scoggin, 0 on, 1 out), Othman (1, 6th inning off Rohde, 0 on, 2 out), Solorzano (3, 7th inning off Jadofsky, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Juengel; Othman 4; Flynn; Hernandez, Ye 2; Gomez, A; Solorzano 4; Martinez, J; Keefer 4; Rosa 4.
RBI: Keefer 2 (12), Rosa (19), Juengel (12), Othman (1), Solorzano (15).
2-out RBI: Rosa; Juengel; Othman.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, Ye; Keefer; Martinez, J.
Team RISP: 1-for-6.
Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING
SB: Martinez, J (11, 2nd base off Scoggin/DeSantiago), Flynn (1, 2nd base off Scoggin/DeSantiago), Solorzano (5, 2nd base off Scoggin/DeSantiago).
CS: Martinez, J (4, 2nd base by Scoggin/DeSantiago).

FIELDING
DP: (Gomez, A-Hernandez, Ye-Rosa).
Pickoffs: Brice (Luna at 1st base).

Rome Braves
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Patrick Scoggin (W, 2-2) 5.0 6 4 4 3 4 2 4.98
Brandon Rohde (H, 2) 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 1 9.72
Zach Jadofsky 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1.72
Totals 7.0 9 6 6 3 4 4 4.11
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Austin Brice (L, 1-3) 3.0 10 7 7 3 3 1 6.53
Helpi Reyes 2.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 4.85
Brian Ellington 2.0 3 2 2 1 3 1 5.59
Totals 7.0 13 9 9 6 7 2 4.58

Brice pitched to 3 batters in the 4th.

WP: Reyes, H.
Groundouts-flyouts: Scoggin 3-4, Rohde 1-1, Jadofsky 1-1, Brice 3-0, Reyes, H 3-1, Ellington 2-1.
Batters faced: Scoggin 23, Rohde 5, Jadofsky 4, Brice 20, Reyes, H 7, Ellington 10.
Inherited runners-scored: Reyes, H 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Ryan Wills. 1B: Lewis WilliamsIII.
Weather: 68 degrees, overcast.
Wind: 3 mph, In from LF.
T: 2:15.
Att: 2,372.