Hoppers hit 3 solo home runs in loss to Dash

WINSTON-SALEM ― Tyler Osik and Travis Moniot both hit two-run home runs, leading the host Winston-Salem Dash to a 5-3 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Truist Stadium on Thursday night.

Greensboro hit three home runs in the game, but all were solo shots and the Hoppers dropped their second game in a row and fell behind the Dash 5-4 in the Battle of I-40 rivalry.

Even with the back-to-back losses, the Hoppers have won nine of their last 12 games.

Pirates prospects Matthew Fraizer and Liover Peguero ― the first two batters of the game ― hit back-to-back home runs to start the game and give the Hoppers an early 2-0 lead.

For Fraizer, the home run was his eighth of the season. He ranks third in the High-A East with a .329 batting average and fifth in home runs. Peguero, meanwhile, is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 4 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system.

Greensboro designated hitter Lolo Sanchez hit a solo home run ― his seventh of the season ― in the top of the fourth inning.

Moniot's two-run shot off reliever Garrett Leonard (0-1, 4.87 ERA) in the fifth put Winston-Salem ahead for good, although Greensboro narrowly missed a chance to tie the game in the eighth inning.

The Hoppers' Fabricio Macias tripled with one out, but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Jared Triolo's grounder to Dash shortop Lenyn Sosa. Macias went 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple to raise his batting average to .310.

Winston-Salem added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Yolbert Sanchez's RBI groundout.

Dash left-hander Dan Metzdorf (1-0, 5.48 ERA) picked up the win, striking out six in three shutout innings. Caleb Freeman closed with two scoreless innings for his fourth save.

The Hoppers and Dash play again at 7 p.m. Friday at Winston-Salem's Truist Stadium. This is the first minor league season since 1968 that teams from Greensboro and Winston-Salem have played each other.