Greensboro Grasshoppers Saturday Night Baseball Report…
brought to us by Mike Causey for NC Insurance Commissioner…..
From Saturday night at First National Bank Field in beautiful downtown Greensboro:
Asheville Tourists 5, Greensboro Grasshoppers 3
WP:Maunuel Urias(2-8)
LP:Cy Nielson(2-2)
Tourisits' Line-5-7-1 Hoppers' Line- 3-8-0
Greensboro Grasshoppers(57-37/18-11)
Asheville Tourists(40-52/12-16)
Friday night it was Asheville over Greensboro, 6-4…And here we come back on Saturday night, and Asheville beats Greensboro this time, 5-3…A couple of two-run losses, in back-to-back games/nights…And the Saturday night loss hurt more than the one did back on Friday…
Saturday night the Hoppers has a 2-0 lead after two innings…It was a double by PJ Hilson, then singles from Kalae Harrison, Luke Brown, and Wyatt Hendrie…Runs scored by Hilson and Harrison, and the RBI from Brown and Hendrie…
Flip the book and it was two runs from the Asheville Tourists and they tied the game, at 2-2, in the top of the fourth inning…Things stayed at 2-2 until the sixth inning, and that is where Shawn Ross cracked his league-leading 19th Home Run of the season, and it was a solo smack…
So there you go, the score was 2-2, but now the Hoppers are back on top 3-2, and they carried that one-run lead into the top of the ninth inning, and that is where the Asheville Tourists went off…Luis Encarnacion singled, then Ryan Johnson walked for A’ville, and right after that is when Oliver Carrillo doubled to score Encarnacion, and he was followed by a Double from Garret Guillmette, and Guillmette’s two-bagger scored both Johnson and Carrillo…Back-to-Back Doubles from Carrillo and Guillmette, and this pushed A’ville over the Hoppers, 5-3…
In the bottom of the ninth frame, with Greensboro down 5-3 in the game, the Hoppers went down 1-2-3, and this game was a history lesson…Rough night/tough night for the Grasshoppers’ LHP reliever Cy Nielson, with Nielson the usual bullpen closer/finisher/stopper…But not on this night….Nielson gave up the 3 Asheville runs in the ninth, on 3 hits, with 1 BB/2 Ks…Not his best stuff at all, and Nielson was going for his 8th Save of the season, in 11 attempts, but all Cy could earn on this night, was a blown save, and the loss…
Got to say it was a different story for Scott Randall out of the Hoppers’ bullpen on Saturday night…Randall had his very best stuff, his best stuff of the season by far, and he had the numbers to prove it…Randall worked on the hill for 3 2/3s innings, allowing 0 runs, on one hit, with 0 BB/6 Ks…Randall hit a stretch where he struck out 6 of 9 batters, before he gave up his only hit…
Randall was ready, and you have to tip your cap to him and Hoppers’ pitching coach Matt Myers, who has been working with Scott Randall…
Two more stolen bases in the game, and that now gives Mitch Jebb, 28 SBs on the year….Jebb also hit safely again tonight, going 1-3/BB/2 SBs…One overall weakness from Saturday night showed us the Hoppers going just 1-15 from the four top spots in the batting order…Moving down a few spots, PJ Hilson went 1-4/Double/Run…Shawn Ross was hot, as he went 2-4/HR/Double/Run/RBI…Kalae Harrison was 1-4/Run…Luke Brown goes 2-4/RBI…Wyatt Hendrie went 1-4/RBI…Spots 5-9 in the Grasshoppers’ batting order were productive…
For the Asheville Tourists, Luis Encarnacion went 2-4/2 Runs…Oliver Carrillo was 2-4/Double/Run/3 RBI…Garret Guillmette goes 2-4/2 RBI…John Garcia was 1-4…Cam Fisher 0-2/2 BBs/Run…Autin Deming 0-2/2 BBs…Ryan Johnson 0-3/BB/Run…
Strong pitching from the Tourists two-man pitching staff on Saturday night…Starter Derek True was good for five innings, allowing 2 runs, on 6 hits, with 1 BB/9 big Ks…Then on comes Manuel Urias, who goes the final four frames, giving up 1 run, on 2 hits, with 0 BB/5 Ks…For the Tourists pitchers, it was just 1 BB, and 14 Ks on the night…Solid there…You get by only having to use two pitchers, and you walk only one batter, and you strike out 14…Prett good stuff there…
Game over, 5-3 Asheville Tourists victory…A’ville leads the weekly series, 3-2…
Game Particulars:
Attendance-5,100
Time of Game-2:42
Game Time Temp-81 Degrees at 6:34pm
Next Up:
Asheville Tourists40-52/12-16) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(57-37/15-11) at First National Bank Field, on Sunday afternoon, at 2pm…Kids play catch on the field before the game, and Kids Run the Base, after the game…Family Fun Day Sunday, at FNB Field….
