Greensboro Grasshoppers ride Burrows start on to 5-3 win over Rome Braves on Friday night

A heck of a start by the Greensboro Grasshoppers right handed pitcher Michael Burrows on Friday evening, at First National Bank Field…RHP Burrows gave up no runs, on one hit, with one walk and he struck out 7 Rome Brave batters over four innings….Burrows has now struck out 15 batters over his eight innings of work on the mound, to begin the 2021 season for the Hoppers/Pittsburgh Pirates…

He struck out 7 of the 14 batters he faced this evening/Friday night, and in Burrows first start of the season vs. the Hickory Crawdads, he struck out 8 of the 12 batters he faced in that contest….Burrows does not yet have a win, since he has not yet been allowed to go the required five innings he needs to qualify for the victory, but you have to believe that time is coming soon, as we get deeper into the season….

Michael Burrows is having a whole lot of fun doing what he has been doing for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, at the outset of the ’21 campaign….Keep an eye and ear on Burrows, he might be able to eliminate even more batters, once they extend his innings….Looking forward to how that goes…He has only been given the opportunity to go four innings in each of his first two starts this Spring…

How far will this young man be able to go??? We will simply have to wait and see….It is not so much all about the eye test, as it is the arm test…Got to take it slowly, and protect his arm, as he gets the green light to go longer, and stay longer in the games…..

As far as the Friday night final goes….The Greensboro Grasshoppers jumped on the Rome Braves early in this game, with a Nick Gonzales double providing a spark in the first inning, and after two walks, with Aaron Shackleford and Matthew Gorski receiving free passes, LoLo Sanchez lifted a fly ball into center field, and that scored Gonzales, then the Hoppers added two more runs in the second inning on Matthew Frazier’s two-run home run to right field, bringing home Frazier and Hoppers’ catcher Grant Koch, and as we look up and check the scoreboard, the Hoppers were in front of Rome, 3-0, after three frames of the game…

With two more runs in the fourth inning, with Jack Herman’s double and Jared Triolo reaching on an error, both Herman and Triolo would come in to score on the two-run ground ball single by Grant Koch to center field, and with the Herman and Triolo runs, the Greensboro Grasshoppers now lead the Rome Braves, 5-0…

Up five-nothing and Michael Burrows pitching, that sounds like a formula for success and it was….The Hoppers up 5-0 after four innings and on their way to an easy victory, right??? Nope….

The Rome Braves would battle back and no go out quietly, as Rome touched home two times in the fifth inning, and then one more time in the eighth inning, but with Cristofer Melendez coming into the game and closing out the 8th and then finishing off the 9th inning on the mound for Greensboro, the Grasshoppers were able to put this game away, and claim the 5-3 win…

Excellent start again by Burrows, but Will Kobos worked two innings on the hill for the Hoppers and he was able to take the “W”…Colin Selby comes in for middle and late relief, and gets the Hold…Melendez was given the Save for the Hoppers…

Burrows the start, Kobos the win, Selby the hold, and Melendez the save…A total effort from the pitching staff on Friday night/evening…..
(13 strikeouts by/from the Hoppers pitching staff on Friday evening.)

Hopper hitters:Nick Gonzales 2-4/2 Doubles/Run scored…Leaves the game batting .382, Grant Koch 2-3/Run/2 RBI, Matthew Frazier 1-4/Run/HR/2 RBI, Jack Herman 1-3/Run, LoLo Sanchez 0-3/RBI, Aaron Shackleford 0-2/2 BB’s/Leaves the game batting .357…..
Braves hitters:Logan Brown 2-3/BB/RBI, Shean Michael 1-4/Run, Jesse Franklin 1-4, Beau Philip 0-2/2 BB’s/Run, Riley Delgado 0-5/Run, Garrison Schwartz 0-2/3 BB’s, Cody Milligan 0-4/RBI…..

Final Score:Greensboro Grasshoppers 5, Rome Braves 3
WP:Kobos(2-0)
LP:Alan Rangel(0-1)
Hold:Colin Selby(1)
Save:Cristofer Melendez(1)

Hoppers line:5-6-0
Braves line: 3-4-1

Hoppers record(5-5)
Braves record(6-4)

Attendance:2,874
TOG/Time of Game-2:54

On Saturday night at First National Bank Field you will have GSO(5-5) vs. Rome(6-4)….RHP Omar Cruz for the Hoppers and RHP Bryce Elder for the Braves…First pitch will come in at 6:30pm and there will be a fireworks show after the game…
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