Hoppers’ Holmes sharp again out of bullpen
from Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball(Greensboro Grasshoppers) at www.gsohoppers.com
Pitching out of the bullpen is new for Ben Holmes, but he’s making the most of it.
The left-hander pitched four hitless innings of relief Friday night to help the Hoppers to a 5-2 win over the Columbia Fireflies in the first game of a double-header at NewBridge Bank Park. Columbia came back to win the second game, 2-1.
“I have a good idea of when I’m pitching,” Holmes said, “so I’m easing into the process (of pitching in long relief). I just go out and give the team as many innings as possible.”
Holmes knew he would be the second man in Friday, following Brett Lilek, who was making just his second start since coming up from extended spring training. Last year’s No. 2 draft pick by Miami, Lilek is still rounding into pitching shape. He made it three innings, allowing two runs, two hits and three walks while recording one strikeout.
Holmes took over to start the fourth inning of a 2-2 tie and faced just 13 batters, one over the minimum. He allowed two walks, one of which was wiped out on a double play, and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 0.36. The Hoppers scored three times in the sixth to give Holmes a cushion to pick up his third victory.
“Tonight I threw strikes with my fastball early to get ahead and used my slider and changeup,” he said. “I worked on my slider a lot in spring training.”
In 2015 Holmes was 3-6 with a 5.20 ERA in 20 games with the Hoppers, 17 of them starts. He was promoted to Jupiter and started seven games, going 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA. If he’s disappointed by coming back to the Hoppers, he doesn’t show it.
“They really didn’t give me any reason,” he said of the decision for him to return here. “I take the ball when they give it to me and just go out and do my job. I’m only concerned about what I can control.”
Holmes said he felt he was a bit tentative at times last season and is pitching “with more conviction” now. Manager Kevin Randel agreed with that assessment.
“He’s more aggressive,” Randel said. “He’s attacking hitters, pretty much coming right after then. He gets ahead with his fastball and gets early contact and a lot of ground balls. He’s been huge for us out of the pen and logged some good innings.”
Greensboro managed eight hits, with Isael Soto getting two with a pair of RBIs. Angel Reyes had two hits and scored twice.
Soto made two baserunning mistakes that wound up as positives. In the second inning, after his single drove in Josh Naylor, Soto took too wide a turn around first base. Randel waved Reyes home and Soto stayed in a rundown long enough for Reyes to score before Soto was tagged for the third out.
In the sixth inning, Soto had another RBI single and moved to second. Roy Morales singled and Soto stopped at third, then broke for home when the right fielder’s throw was high and wide. Columbia’s pitcher backed up the play, retrieved the ball and flipped it to the catcher. Soto appeared he would be out by 10-15 feet and slid right into the catcher’s glove, but knocked the ball out and his run counted.
“(Soto) is raw and young and needs all the repetitions he can get,” Randel said.
The evening ended in something of a disappointment. Hoppers pitchers Cody Poteet and Ben Meyer held Columbia to two hits, meaning the Fireflies managed just four hits in 14 innings yet somehow earned a split.
Neither hit figured in the scoring. In the third inning, Poteet was his own worst enemy, walking the first two hitters. The Fireflies cobbled together a sacrifice, an error by shortstop Anfernee Seymour, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly to score their two runs without a hit.
But those runs stood up because the Hoppers were held to two hits and no runs through five innings by Kevin Canelon. Greensboro managed a run in the sixth off reliever Alex Pasha when Naylor’s single scored Kyle Barrett, who was the only runner to get in scoring position all game.
“We laid an egg the second game,” Randel said.
NOTES: Columbia is the franchise formerly known as the Savannah Sand Gnats and is an affiliate of the Mets … Lexington begins a four-game series at 7 o’clock Saturday with Gabriel Castellanos starting for Greensboro … Pitching coach Brendan Sagara is away from the team indefinitely following the recent death of his father in Hawaii … Manny Olivera, who joined the team on the road in Augusta, is filling in those duties.