Bill Hass on Baseball:Hoppers win, stay close to Suns

*****Hoppers stay hot, having now won 10 of their last 12 games and they got the job done again tonight/Monday, at Lakewood, New Jersey.*****

Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball(Greensboro Grasshoppers) at www.gsohoppers.com:

Hoppers win, stay close to Suns

Sixteen hits and an excellent bullpen effort carried the Hoppers to a 10-6 road win over Lakewood Monday.

The Hoppers now stand 33-23 in the first half and trail Hagerstown by 4 1/2 games in the Northern Division. The Suns (38-19) topped Delmarva 4-2, pushing the Shorebirds to four games back with a 34-23 record. Greensboro has 14 games remaining in the first half while Hagerstown and Delmarva each have 13 left.

Avery Romero, just activated from the disabled list, sparked the offense with three hits and three runs scored. Cody Keefer added two hits and four RBIs, Chad Wallach had two hits and three RBIs, Kentrell Dewitt had two hits and scored twice, and Yefri Perez added two hits.

Down 6-3 after four innings, the Hoppers scored the final seven runs of the game, getting two in the fifth, two in the eighth and three in the ninth.

Matt Milroy had a rare ineffective start, giving up six runs (five earned) in four innings. He allowed five hits but issued six walks. Reliever Josh Easley pitched three innings of one-hit ball, earning his third win, and newcomer Tyler Kinney retired all six hitters he faced to earn a save.

The Hoppers made several roster moves before the game. With Romero activated, Rehiner Cordova was assigned to Batavia of the New York-Penn League. Kinley took the spot of Ramon del Orbe, who was sent to the Gulf Coast League. Catcher Sharif Othman was promoted to Jupiter and replaced on the roster by catcher Joel Jimenez.

The Hoppers play a doubleheader at Lakewood Tueday. Max Garner will start the first game with the second starter to be determined. One possibility is Sean Townsley, who has shared the piggyback spot with Milroy all year but did not pitch Monday.