Cabrera's strong start all for naught

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (May 30, 2018) -- Greensboro's Edward Cabrera made a strong start but was out-dueled as Lakewood's Will Stewart threw a complete-game shutout as the BlueClaws blanked the Grasshoppers, 3-0, on Wednesday at FirstEnergy Park. Stewart joined Cabrera as two of only four pitchers in the South Atlantic League to have thrown complete-game shutouts in 2018.
Stewart (5-0) lowered his ERA to 1.23 while striking out 10, walking none, and limiting the Grasshoppers to three hits over 9.0 innings. 
The game lasted 2:04, one of the quickest 9-inning games the Hoppers have played this season.
Lakewood plated two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Quincy Nieporte singled with one out, and Daniel Brito followed with a double to put runners in scoring position. Gregori Rivero followed with an RBI-groundout, and Josh Stephen added a run-scoring single for a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Jake Scheiner added an RBI-double, scoring Kevin Markham from first base for the final run of the game.
Cabrera (1-5) suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings for Greensboro. The right-hander struck out two and walked one before making way for Nestor Bautista, who tossed the eighth inning for the Grasshoppers. 
Stewart became the second pitcher in the South Atlantic League to throw a 9-inning complete-game shutout, along with Greenville's Denyi Reyes. Two Hoppers -- Cabrera on May 20 against Lakewood and Ryan Lillie on May 26 at Hagerstown -- both spun 7-inning complete game shutouts as part of doubleheaders.  Stewart is also only the second pitcher to log double-digit strikeouts against Greensboro in 2018, joining Charleston's Dalton Lehnen, who struck out 10 on April 20. 
Greensboro wraps up the road trip with Game 3 against Lakewood on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at FirstEnergy Park. The Grasshoppers return to First National Bank Field on Friday for a 3-game home stand against the West Virginia Power, and tickets are available online at gsohoppers.com.