Matt Gorski hits two more HRs, but Hoppers lose

GREENSBORO ― Matt Gorski hit two home runs for the second night in a row, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Bowling Green Hot Rods pounded out 21 hits and beat the Greensboro Grasshoppers 12-3 at First National Bank Field on Thursday night.

Ronny Simon went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the way for Bowling Green. Matt Dyer went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored, and the Hot Rods hit four home runs in the game.

The Hoppers, meanwhile, got most of their offense from Gorski, who has back-to-back two-homer games.

Gorski hit a solo home run onto the hill beyond the fence in left-center field ― where a fan who brought his baseball glove made a great catch on the grass ― in the fourth inning after Bowling Green had taken a 7-0 lead.

Gorski added another solo shot on a line drive off the scoreboard in right field in the eighth inning.

The red-hot Gorski leads the South Atlantic league in home runs (14), RBIs (33), runs scored (30), slugging percentage (.704) and OPS (1.077). The 24-year-old center fielder went 2-for-4 to raise his batting average to .287. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, and he has been on base in 31 of 34 games played.

Yoyner Fajardo went 3-for-4 in the lead-off spot for Greensboro, and Sammy Siani and Francisco Acuña hit back-to-back doubles in the seventh inning to account for the Hoppers other run.

Jacob Gonzalez, who had a six-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday, went 1-for-4 with a bad-hop single that skipped away from Bowling Green shortstop Osleivis Basabe. Gonzalez, the reigning South Atlantic League player of the week, has hit safely in seven of eight games since his promotion to Greensboro, going 16-for-31 (.516) with four home runs and eight RBIs.

Starting pitcher Sean Sullivan (0-2) took the loss, surrendering seven earned runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.

The Hoppers (15-20) will host the Hot Rods (22-13) at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

NOTES

• Bowling Green went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and the Hot Rods could've produced even more offense if not for Greensboro outfielders Sammy Siani and Jack Herman, who both threw out runners at second base attempting to stretch singles into doubles.
• Hudson Head went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Head, a 21-year-old outfielder rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, has hits in 11 of his last 13 games. He has reached base in 18 of his last 19 games.
• 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 12 of 15 games played, with eight multi-hit games. Fajardo is 21-for-59 and his .356 batting average would lead the Sally League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.