Farnworth helps Hoppers win 5th straight
from Bill Hass on Baseball(Greensboro Grasshoppers) at www.gsohoppers.com
When Hoppers pitcher Steven Farnworth got to NewBridge Bank Park Saturday, the game with Hagerstown was scheduled to start at 4:30.
At 8:11, he finally threw the first pitch. Things turned out to be worth the wait.
Farnworth delivered five solid innings and picked up his first victory as the Hoppers won their fifth straight game, beating the Suns 4-2.
He was supposed to pitch the first game of a double-header, but a gully-washer of a storm set everything back. Make that way back. By the time the tarp was pulled and the field prepared, the decision was made to play a single nine-inning game.
“I always felt we would play,” Farnworth said about the long wait. “I played cards with the guys (a game called Monopoly Deal) and tried not to sit down and get lazy. Once the game started I felt fine and was able to keep the same focus.”
Farnworth threw four shutout innings before allowing a run in the fifth. The Hoppers scored in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead and make him eligible for the win. L.J. Brewster pitched two sharp innings and C.J. Robinson closed it out with two innings. Robinson surrendered a long home run to Victor Robles, the first batter he faced, then retired six of the next seven hitters to earn his eighth save.
Drafted in 2014 out of Cal-Poly Pomona, Farnworth was a starter in college. He became a closer at Batavia last season, saving 13 games in 14 chances. He began the season in that role with the Hoppers and recorded three saves before being inserted into the rotation. This was his fourth start.
“It’s like going back to my roots,” he said. “My arm has bounced back — it’s not as sore as it was after my first start.
“As a starter I can focus on my fastball and start hitters off with that. Tonight I was able to use it in and out, up and down, and mix in my off-speed stuff.”
Pitching coach Brendan Sagara said Farnworth “knows how to pitch. He’s always aggressive in the strike zone and he commands the fastball well with good secondary stuff.”
Brewster entered the game with a 9.87 ERA and had been tagged for a run in almost every appearance. After giving up an infield hit to start the sixth, he got a double play. He didn’t let an error both him, getting a groundout to end the inning. In the seventh, Stone Garrett’s diving catch in left field got the leadoff batter and Brewster struck out the next two hitters.
“With him it’s all about confidence,” Sagara said. “Tonight he had a good mindset and got good results early and that gave him more confidence for his second inning.”
The Hoppers picked up 11 hits, 10 of them singles. Garrett doubled and eventually scored a run in the fourth on a wild pitch. Isael Soto had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh, and Zach Sullivan drove in an insurance run with a two-out single in the eighth.
“Soto is swinging the bat great and playing good defense,” said manager Kevin Randel. “He’s a good player.”
The teams will play a double-header Sunday to finish the series. The first of two seven-inning games will start at 2 p.m.
NOTES: Jose Ceballos picked up his fifth straight win as the third base coach and is 6-2 since Randel moved him there … Justin Twine made an excellent defensive play at second base, leaping to snag a hot line drive and take a hit away from Kelvin Gutierrez in the fourth inning … Suns manager Patrick Anderson was ejected in the fifth for arguing a call after a rundown at third base, and Hoppers third baseman Aaron Blanton was tossed in the sixth for disagreeing with a call after a spectacular defensive play.