Back-to-back homers lift Hoppers to series split

HICKORY ― Matt Gorski and Jacob Gonzalez hit back-to-back solo home runs in the eighth inning, lifting the Greensboro Grasshoppers to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With Hickory ahead 3-2, losing pitcher Tristan Polley (3-2) relieved Marc Church to start the top of the eighth. Gorski led off the with a game-tying home run over the center-field fence. Gonzalez then lined a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left field for the go-ahead run.

Abrahan Gutierrez doubled, but he was stranded when Polley got the next three batters in order.

Greensboro's bullpen held the lead. Right-hander Michell Miliano (1-0) struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning, and Jack Carey struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Lefty Tyler Samaniego struck out three of the five batters he faced in the ninth to earn his second save.

Gonzalez continued his torrid start in Greensboro with a 3-for-4 day. He has hits in all five games played since joining the Hoppers on Tuesday, going 12-for-19 (.632) with three home runs and seven RBIs.

For Gorski, the home run was his ninth of the season. Gorski ranks second in the South Atlantic League with 25 runs scored, third in both home runs and RBIs, and 10th in stolen bases (9). Gorski has hits in five of his last six games, and he has been on base in 28 of 31 games played.

Greensboro's Hudson Head went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored in the first inning. Head, a 21-year-old outfielder rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, has hits in nine of his last 10 games. He has reached base in 15 of his last 16 games.

Lead-off hitter Yoyner Fajardo went 2-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base and a run scored, and Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Hoppers (14-18) return home this week to host a six-game series against defending league champion Bowling Green (20-12) at First National Bank Field.

NOTES

• Greensboro finished with 13 hits, but the Hoppers went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
• The Hoppers won three games in Hickory to split the series, and they are 7-5 in the month of May
• Greensboro is 5-6 in one-run games so far this season.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez, the 23-year-old son of former big-league All-Star Luis Gonzalez, batted .393 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 24 games for the Bradenton Marauders before his promotion to Greensboro. He was a second-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2017, turning pro right out of high school, and is in his fifth minor-league season.
• Yoyner Fajardo has hit safely in 11 of 14 games played, with seven multi-hit games. Fajardo is 18-for-55 and his .327 batting average would rank in the top-10 in the Sally League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.
• Hoppers left-hander Tyler Samaniego (1-1, 2 saves) made his 11th appearance of the season, lowering his ERA to 0.68. He has struck out 19 in 13 1/3 innings and held opponents to an .065 batting average.