Nothing but good things to report from the Greensboro Grasshoppers game versus the Wilmington, Delaware Blue Rocks, at First National Bank Field, in beautiful Downtown Greensboro, on Wednesday Night…..
Final Score from FNB Field:
Greensboro Grasshoppers 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3
(This is our Fred Anderson Toyota of Raleigh Game Report.)
The Hoppers got the Win on Wednesday, and with that Win, and the Frederick Keys falling 7-2, to the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Greensboro Grasshoppers(37-22) are just a Half-Game Back of First Place Frederick(36-20) in the First Half Standings, of the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division…
From Wednesday with that Hopper 4-3 Win over Wilmington…
WP:Bryan Mena(3-4)/LP:Brady Hill(2-3)
Hoppers' Line-4- 6-2 Rocks' Line- 3-11-0
Again, with the victory, the Hoppers are at (37-22), and the Rocks are sitting at (27-31)..With two wins to close the Series at Asheville, and now two wins over Wilmington here in Greensboro this week, the Greensboro Grasshoppers have themselves a Four-Game Winning Streak going on…
Very solid start tonight by the Hoppers’ Cameron Keyshock, and when Bryan Mena came in to take over for Keyshock, after Keyshock goes 4 1/3 Innings, well Mena never gave the ball back to anyone…He just kept the ball, and never gave it up, as Mena made this like a piggyback start, as he went and finished off the final 4 2/3 Innings of this contest…Mena getting mean, and not leaving the scene until this game was in the Hoppers’ Win Column…
We gave the REMAX Revolution Player of the Game Award to the Bryan Mena…He went the final 4 2/3s Innings, allowing 1 Run, on 1 Hit, with 1 BB/3 Ks…Mena served up one of the two Home Runs of the evening, to the Rocks SS Eli Willits…Willits homered twice in the ballgame, with his first Long One, coming off of Hoppers’ starter, Cameron Keyshock…Total Keyshock tally was 4 1/3 Innings, with him giving up 2 Runs, on 7 Hits, with 0 BB/7 Ks, and he gave up one of the Eli Willits’ Solo Home Runs…
Mena was tough, really tough for the Hoppers, because he had to hold it in the road, and not let the Rocks get back in this game, at the end…
Hoppers were down 3-2, when they got Solo Home Runs from both Jhonny Severino and Josh Tate, in the Bottom of the Seventh Inning…For Severino it was HR #12 of the season, and his RBI total climbed to his team-leading 46 RBI…For Josh Tate, he homered for his first hit as a Hopper on Tuesday, and he did it again on Wednesday, as his Solo HR to left field in the Bottom of that Seventh Inning, proved to be the Game-Winner for the Greensboro Grasshoppers…
The 4-3 final, in favor of the Hoppers, with both Severino and Tate, being big factors for the home team, down the stretch…Those two HRs in the Seventh were huge, and the job Mena did in the late innings, carrying the entire Hoppers’ pitching load, was just as big…Big Win Hoppers, Big Loss by the Frederick Keys, and things were just going right, on Wednesday Night….
For the game, the Greensboro Grasshoppers with those six hits, and two of the hits, were the Homers by Severino and Tate, and early in the game, way back in the First Inning, the Hoppers got back-to-back Doubles from Jesus Castillo and Yordany De Los Santos, and that helped the Hoppers take a 2-0 lead after just one inning..De Los Santos drove in Castillo, and Axiel Plaz drove home De Los Santos with the Plaz’ ground-out RBI….
So many things had to go right, on Wednesday night, and they did, plus this game was a “Time of Game”, ‘Game of the Year”…..The Time of Game goes 2:12, that’s just Two Hours and Tweleve Minutes, and I have waited longer than that for a Good Meal on some nights…We always called these games, “The Graham Taylor Games”…Around 15-20 years ago, Taylor was a Greensboro Grasshoppers pitcher, when the Hoppers were with the Florida/Miami Marlins, and Taylor had two games in the First Half his year in Greensboro, and those games went 1:47, and 1:45…There was nothing like a “Graham Taylor Game” back then…And they were usually wins, and that made it even sweeter…
So back to the Hopper Hitters on Wednesday, it was Castillo 2-4/Double/Bunt Single/Run…De Los Santos 1-4/Double/Run/RBI/SB…Axiel Plaz 0-1/BB/RBI…Sammy Stafura 0-2/BB…Jhonny Severino 1-3/HR/Run/RBI…Brian Sanchez 1-3…Josh Tate 1-3/HR/Run/RBI…So we find the Six Hopper Hits, when we look back at these batters…
The top Blue Rock hitter for this Wednesday Night Game, was Eli Willits…The 18 year-old just joined the Rocks on Tuesday from Fredricksburg, and on Wednesday he went 3-5/2 HRs/2 Runs/2 RBI…Ronny Cruz went 2-4 for Wilmington, and drew a Walk, and Cruz scored a Run…Yeremy Cabrera goes 2-5 for the Rocks…The first three spots in their order, Willits, Cruz, and Cabrera did most of the offensive damage for the Blue Rocks…
The Rocks losing pitcher, Brady Hill had a tough line, going 1 Inning, giving up 2 Runs, on 2 Hits, with 0 BBs/0 Ks, and he gave up the only Two Hopper Homers in the game…The first one was to Jhonny Severino, and the second one went to Josh Tate…
Hoppers led 2-0, were tied up at 2-2, then fell behind 3-2, before winning the game, 4-3….Some tight and close action on Wednesday, at FNB Field…Plus from the pitching corner, the Hoppers walked just one Blue Rock batter, and the Rocks just walked Two Hopper Batters, over the course of the game…Three Errors on the Hoppers at one point, and they called one back, the error by Severino on the ground ball that came up on him at third, but it was taken back, and Ronny Cruz was give a hit for his first inning effort/at-bat…
That pretty much breaks it down, and the best parts of the night, were the Grasshoppers’ Victory, and the loss by the Frederick Keys…Makes it very tight, going into the SALLY League Thursday action…
Wednesday Game Details:
Attendance-2,352
Time of Game-2:12
Game Time Temp-86 Degrees and Sunny
Up Next:Wilmington Blue Rocks(27-31) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(37-22) on Thursday Night at First National Bank Field…First Pitch due in at 6:30pm…Thirsty Thursday Night at the ballpark…Great discounts on beverages, all night long…
You may want to listen to the game, and you can catch all the action, on GSOHoppers.com, by way of the LONG GONE Baseball Radio Network…Just CLICK HERE, to Listen Live…Jay Ramey will join us for the Thursday Night broadcast….
***********Hoppers-Blue Rocks Game Report, from Callie Cline, with GSOHoppers.com:***********
Grasshoppers Edge Blue Rocks, 4-3, for Second Straight Win
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro Grasshoppers defeated the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 4-3, on Wednesday, June 10. With the victory, Greensboro improved to 37-22 on the season, while Wilmington fell to 27-31. The Blue Rocks outhit the Grasshoppers 11-6, while Greensboro committed two errors.
Outfielder Jesus Castillo paced the Grasshoppers offensively, going 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored. Additional hits for Greensboro came from Yordany De Los Santos, Jhonny Severino, Brian Sanchez, and Josh Tate.
Wilmington was led at the plate by infielder Eli Willits, who finished 3-for-5 with two home runs, two RBI, and two runs scored. Ronny Cruz added a 2-for-4 performance with one run scored. Additional hits for the Blue Rocks were recorded by Yeremy Cabrera (2), Matt Suggs, Elijah Nunez, Randal Diaz, and Teo Banks.
Right-handed pitcher Cameron Keshock made the start for Greensboro, recording six strikeouts while allowing eight hits and two runs (one earned) across 4.1 innings. Bryan Mena earned the victory in relief, improving to 3-4 on the season.
Right-hander Riley Maddox started for Wilmington and struck out seven batters while allowing four hits, two earned runs, and two walks over six innings. Brady Hill was charged with the loss, dropping to 2-3 on the season.
The Grasshoppers continue their homestand against the Wilmington Blue Rocks tomorrow, Thursday June 11 at 6:30PM. To purchase tickets to any home Grasshoppers game please call 336-268-2255 or visit gsohoppers.com.
Wednesday Scores from the South Atlantic League:
HCS 21, ASH 0
ROM 8, BG 3
GBO 4, WIL 3
HV 11, JS 3
BRK 7, FRE 2
GVL 7, WS 4
Thursday Games for the South Atlantic League:
Wilmington @ Greensboro 6:30 PM ET
Jersey Shore @ Hudson Valley 6:35 PM ET
Asheville @ Hub City 6:35 PM ET
Frederick @ Brooklyn 6:40 PM ET
Winston-Salem @ Greenville 6:45 PM ET
Rome @ Bowling Green 7:35 PM ET
Standings for the South Atlantic League:
SALLY North-
Frederick(36-20)
Greensboro Grasshoppers(37-22) A Half Game Back
Wilmington(27-31)/Hudson Valley(27-31) Both 10 Games Back
Brooklyn(23-35) 14 Games Back
Jersey Shore(22-36) 15 Games Back
SALLY South-
Bowling Green(42-16)
WS Dash(33-26) 9 ½ Games Back
Rome(31-27) 11 Games Back
Hub City(29-29) 13 Games Back
Greenville(24-32) 17 Games Back
Asheville(16-42) 26 Games Back
Pittsburgh Pirates Organization:
Single A Bradenton Marauders(27-30)
Double A Altoona Curve(25-34)/(Greensboro North_–Defeated Chesapeake, 10-3, on Wednesday…WP:Peyton Stumbo(1-4)/SV:Mike Walsh(3)/Hold:Cy Nielson(1)…Omar Alfonzo 1-3/HR/2 BBs/2 RBI…Javier Rivas 2-5/Triple/Double/Run/2 RBI…Will Taylor 2-4/Double/RBI…Titus Dumitru 2-4/Double/2 Runs/RBI…Callan Moss 2-4/Double/BB/2 Runs/3 RBI…Deuce Gourson 2-4/BB/2 Runs/RBI/SB…Ivan Brethowr 1-4/BB…Carlos Caro 0-1/3 BBs/2 Runs…Shalin Polanco 0-4…
Triple A Indianapolis Indians(26-39)..11-1 Winners over Columbus Clippers…Nick Cimillo Grand Slam HR..Esmerlyn Valdez Three-Run HR…Termarr Johnson Two-Run HR…Keiner Delgado-Double…
MLB Pittsburgh Pirates(35-33)…Pirates, 9-8 win over Dodgers…Jared Triolo 1-4/Run…Nick Gonzales 0-3/BB/Run..Dodgers(43-25) @ Pirates 6:40pm