The Greensboro Grasshoppers lost last night down in Augusta, Georgia, to the Greenjackets 6-1, and now they return home this evening to NewBridge Bank Park to face the Charleston, S.C. Riverdogs….Tonight will be the “Christmas in July” theme night and there will be tons of special events and prize/Christmas Gift Giveaways….Game time is 7pm at NBBP….
I had the rare opportunity to catch a game on TV last night and it was so good to be able to check out the Marlins and the Braves, on FOX Sports South/TWC Channel 67.
After high school All-Star games this week, with basketball on Monday, soccer on Tuesday and football on Wednesday, plus a Colt baseball game and 7 on 7 football Thursday, the TV baseball break was a nice change on the Sports Menu….
The moon was up over Miami and the Marlins took down the Atlanta Braves 7-6….Got to see former Greensboro Grasshopper, Bryan Petersen, come through with a two-out, two-run single, to right field for the Marlins and that put them back in front for a while at least…
Former Greensboro Grasshopper Gaby Sanchez, later put the Marlins back in front again 5-4, on a home run to left field…..
There were former Hoppers all over the field, at Sun Life Stadium, in Miami last night….Former Hoppers’ pitcher Alex Sanabia, who started for Greensboro in the exhibition game against the Marlins here in Greensboro, back on April 3rd, got the start for the Marlins last night, against the Braves….Former Hoppers’ pitcher Taylor Tankersley, came on in relief for the Marlins from the bullpen….Mike Stanton was holding down the fort in right field….Chris Coghlan was in left field and former Hoppers’ manager Edwin Rodriguez, was running the Marlins team from the dugout…
The Marlins are now pretty much the Greensboro Grasshoppers, just two years removed….
Last night’s game was just about as tight as you will ever see. Marlins up early 2-0, on Dan Uggla’s home run, his 17th of the season….The Marlins went up later 4-1, on Bryan Petersen’s two-run single…..The Braves lone run early, came on a jackhammer blast to the upper deck by Martin Prado, who played here in Greensboro, while he was with the Rome, Georgia Braves….
There was a brief rain-delay of about 15 minutes, as the grounds crew rolled the tarp on to the field and then they rolled it right back off the field, about two minutes later…..
Florida got down late, as their bullpen failed them and they should go ahead and put up a “HELP WANTED” sign down in the Marlins pen…The Marlins don’t have decent relief pitching. Their top closer, Leo Nunez, was not available last night, since he had already pitched the day before and guys like Tankersley were throwing the ball sideways….
With the Marlins trailing in the bottom of the 9th inning, there came a passed ball, on the Braves catcher Brian McCann, to tie the game at 6-6 and then pinch hitter Donnie Murphy, came up with a walk-off hit, to score the winning run and the Marlins take down the Braves 7-6…..This was the second game this week, where Murphy came up with the walk-off winning hit….Murphy’s Law says right now, “You Can Do It”……
Very big win for the Marlins, as they evened their record at (48-48) and they also gain ground for the Wild Card spot and they pick up a game in the NL East, plus they top the Braves….
A great game to watch, on an off night and it almost seemed like a regular Hoppers night, with all the former Greensboro players and skipper Edwin Rodriguez and to make it much more like Greensboro games, this one lasted nearly 4 hours……..