Blue Rocks shut out luckless Grasshoppers

GREENSBORO ― Five pitchers combined to scatter eight hits as the Wilmington Blue Rocks shut out the Greensboro Grasshoppers 5-0 in their series opener at First National Bank Field on Tuesday night.

And in this case, "scatter" means pitch out of trouble over and over again.

Fabricio Macias went 2-for-4 for Greensboro, which put runners on base in seven of nine innings. The Hoppers stranded 15, going a collective 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

The Hoppers got plenty of hits, but simply couldn't come up with a key two-out hit.

Wilmington, meanwhile, left just one runner on base, making the most of its six hits. Half of those hits left the ballpark, as Jose Sanchez, Jordy Barley and Omar Meregildo all hit home runs over the left-field wall to account for four of the Blue Rocks' runs.

The homers wrecked an otherwise terrific start by Hoppers right-hander Sean Sullivan (0-3). Mixing a mid-90s mph fastball with softer secondary stuff, Sullivan struck out six of the first seven hitters he faced before giving up Sanchez' solo shot.

Sullivan walked none and struck out 11 in five innings of work. He came out to start the sixth inning and gave up hits to the first three batters before leaving the game with a deceptive stat line.

Carlos Romero (2-2) picked up the win in relief for Wilmington, working 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Romero left with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, and Malvin Peña struck out Jack Herman on a 3-2 pitch.

The closest the Hoppers came to scoring in the game came when Maikol Escotto led off the third inning with a drive off the wall in left-center field that caromed far from Wilmington's outfielders. Escotto reached third base easily, but was thrown out trying to stretch the triple into an in-the-park home run on a perfect relay throw from shortstop Barley.

Yoyner Fajardo singled on the next pitch, stole second base, but was left stranded.

NOTES

• Greensboro (20-25) has lost three in a row and four of its last five. The Hoppers have been shut out twice in that span, and are averaging 2.2 runs per game.
• Outfielder Fabricio Macias, who played for the Hoppers in 2019 and 2021, is in Greensboro on an injury rehab assignment. He's 5-for-18 (.278) with two doubles in five games since rejoining the Hoppers. ... Monday was the one-year anniversary of the game in which Macias hit two grand slams for the Hoppers.
• Endy Rodriguez went 1-for-4 and has hit safely in seven of his last eight games. The switch-hitting Rodgriguez has batted .296 with five home runs and 13 RBIs in 21 games in May. He's 20-for-64 (.313) since moving into the No. 3 slot in Greensboro's batting order. ... Rodriguez started in left field Tuesday. The versatile 21-year-old is rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect, and he has played four positions ― catcher, first base, second base and left field ― this season.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez has been one of the South Atlantic League's best players since his promotion from Class-A Bradenton on May 10. He has hit safely in 13 of 16 games since then, with seven multi-hit games. Gonzalez is 23-for-59 (.390) with four home runs and 10 RBIs.
• Second baseman Yoyner Fajardo went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. He has hit safely in 16 of 20 games played, with eight multi-hit games. Fajardo is 25-for-76 and his .329 batting average would lead the Sally League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

MOVES

Before Tuesday's game, Greensboro's bullpen closer was promoted the Class-AA Altoona Curve.

Left-hander Tyler Samaniego went 1-1 with four saves and two holds in 14 relief appearances. He struck out 24 in 17 innings, holding opponents to an .054 batting average and compiling a 0.53 ERA.

"Samaniego has been really good all year long," Hoppers manager Callix Crabbe said. "He's a slow-heartbeat guy. His fastball has life all the way to the catcher's mask, right through home plate. He's committed to throwing it. And what's cool with Samaniego, he adds and subtracts on his fastball. You'll see 91-92 mph, and then he'll reach back for a little extra and get to 96-97. That's a tough thing for the hitter. You get timing on the fastball and then ― pow! ― he gives you something more. And he's got that good slider, too."

Samaniego worked a scoreless inning for Altoona in his debut Tuesday.