Hoppers beat Dash to take 4-3 edge in I-40 rivalry

WINSTON-SALEM -- Highly-touted Quinn Priester pitched five strong innings, and teammates Matthew Fraizer and Fabricio Macias hit home runs to lead the red-hot Greensboro Grasshoppers to a 3-2 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash at Truist Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Grasshoppers (21-16) have won four games in a row, and nine of their last 10. Greensboro is in second place in the High-A East's Southern Division standings, 4 games behind first-place Bowling Green.

With the win, the Hoppers took a 4-3 lead over the Dash (17-20) in the renewed rivalry known as the Battle of I-40. This was Greensboro's first game in Winston-Salem in 53 years, the last time the nearby cities' teams were in the same league.

The Hoppers and Dash will play 24 times this summer, 12 in each team's ballpark.

Priester, rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 2 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, improved to 3-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.52. The 20-year-old right-hander allowed one hit in five innings, walking one and striking out six.

Fraizer and Macias backed up the strong pitching effort.

Fraizer, the Hoppers lead-off hitter, hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot with two outs in the third inning.

Macias, who hit two grand slams in the same game earlier this season, hit an opposite-field two-run shot over the fence in right field with one out in the fourth.

Macias went 1-for-3 with his home run to raise his batting average to .305. Hoppers shortstop Liover Peguero went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt to raise his average to .277.

The bullpen nailed down Priester's win, and Hoppers right-hander Oliver Garcia worked out of a first-and-third jam in the bottom of the ninth inning, getting Duke Ellis on a pop out in foul territory to end it.

The Hoppers and Dash the second game of their six-game series in Winston-Salem at 7 p.m. Wednesday.