Bill Hass on Baseball:Tissenbaum, Naylor slug Hoppers to 8th straight

Tissenbaum, Naylor slug Hoppers to 8th straight
from Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball(Greensboro Grasshoppers) at www.gsohoppers.com

There was no promotion for “O Canada Night” at NewBridge Bank Park Monday, but it turned into one thanks to Maxx Tissenbaum and Josh Naylor.

The two Canadian-born players combined for three home runs and seven RBIs to propel the Hoppers to their eighth straight win, a 9-2 pummeling of the Delmarva Shorebirds.

Tissenbaum got things started with a grand slam homer in the bottom of the first inning and the Hoppers never looked back. Naylor hit a towering two-run shot in the fifth inning and a line drive solo blast in the seventh.

Tissenbaum, from Toronto, is in his fifth season of minor league baseball, having played the last two seasons with Port Charlotte in the Florida State League. The Marlins drafted him from the Tampa Bay organization to add some catching depth.

“I was excited to join the Marlins,” Tissenbaum said. “It’s nice to have a new opportunity and a new set of eyes on you every day. Somebody saw something in you and wanted you.”

Delmarva starter Francisco Jimenez, facing the Hoppers for the third time this season, walked two batters and hit another sandwiched around two outs in the first inning. Tissenbaum made him pay for his erratic pitching, belting a 1-and-2 fastball over the right field fence.

“I don’t think I’ve ever hit a grand slam before,” he said. “If I had, I’d probably remember it. He threw a fastball that got a little more of the plate than he intended. It was a good pitch to hit and I put a good swing on it. I thought it was gone because the ball flies well in the gaps here.”

That would be all the runs the Hoppers needed, but the offense wasn’t through. It added a run in the fourth on Zach Sullivan’s sacrifice fly and two more on Naylor’s first homer.

“He (Jimenez) hadn’t given me much when I faced him before,” Naylor said, the Marlins’ No. 1 draft pick last summer. “I was just hoping for a good pitch and he left a fastball up. It felt good off the bat.”

Tissenbaum said everyone walked to the front of the dugout to watch that homer, which went as high as the scoreboard, crossed Eugene Street and landed near a crane in the construction site.

“That’s one of the biggest home runs I’ve ever seen,” Tissenbaum said. “It was something special.”

Naylor said the second homer, off a hanging curve from reliever Jay Flaa, also felt good. That was a hard liner into the right field netting. The homers boosted his season total to six and his RBI count to 29.

Naylor has been playing with a sore right foot after he fouled a pitch off his ankle a couple of days ago. He kept playing, getting a bit of a break by serving as the DH n one game, but he was back at first base Monday.

“I’m Canadian, so I’ll play through anything,” Naylor said with a smile. “I just want to play hard for my team.”

The age difference — Naylor is 18, Tissenbaum is 24 — has meant the two never played against each other in Canada.

“I knew who he was when I was in college,” Tissenbaum said. “He was on the junior national team and I kept up with them.”

Tissenbaum gives the Hoppers a veteran presence in a clubhouse of young players.

“I can help with things on and off the field,” he said. “Sometimes if a guy gets down on himself, I can see the bigger picture.”

Almost lost in the home run derby were the six shutout innings from Cody Poteet. He gave up three hits and walked three, earning his second win of the season. Ben Holmes pitched the final three innings, giving up a pair of solo homers, for his first save.

“Cody mixed everything up,” Tissenbaum said, “and he executed pitches when he needed to even though he didn’t have his best stuff.”

Poteet said The big early lead didn’t change the way he approached the game.

“I always try to pitch like it’s 0-0,” he said. “But a big lead gives the team energy. It would be easy to relax and sit back, but they guys stayed in attack mode.”

In addition to being the Hoppers’ eighth straight win, it was also their fifth straight victory at home. They struggled at NewBridge early in the season but have pulled their home record to 11-12.

“We didn’t hit early and got out of the gate slow,” said manager Kevin Randel. “Now we’re playing loose and relaxed. I like what we’re doing at home. Things just didn’t bounce our way early.”

The teams play again Tuesday at 7 p.m. with Brett Lilek starting for the Hoppers.

NOTES: The eight-game winning streak has come with Jose Ceballos doing the coaching at third base … Anfernee Seymour picked up an RBI when his ground ball up the middle hit the second base bag and kicked into center field to score Aaron Blanton … Blanton made three excellent plays at third base, twice backhanding hot shots and making strong throws and once moving to his left to stab a grounder, then spinning and throwing to second base to start a double play … Justin Twine ranged far to his left at second base to grab a grounder on the outfield grass and throw out the runner.