Hoppers lose late lead, fall in 10 innings

GREENSBORO ― One strike away from victory. One strike away from sending the faithful home with Porter House burger coupons. One strike away from …

There’s a drive to deep left-center field …

Everson Pereira drove a 3-2 pitch from right-hander Domingo Gonzalez over the fence for a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning as the Hudson Valley Renegades tied the score, forced a 10th inning and defeated the Greensboro Grasshoppers 11-9 at First National Bank Field on Tuesday night.

It was Pereira’s second home run of the game on a night when the Renegades hit three.

Aaron Palensky and Pat DeMarco both hit doubles in the 10th off losing pitcher Wandi Montout (3-2), driving home three runs to win the game.

Fabricio Macias went 2-for-5 with four RBIs to lead the Hoppers. He hit a two-run single in the fifth inning to cut Hudson Valley’s lead to 6-5, then pulled a ground ball just inside the third-base bag and down the left-field line for a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh.

Dariel Lopez went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Sammy Siani finished 2-for-3 with two walks, three stolen bases and two runs scored.

At times, the Hoppers were their own worst enemies. Twice Greensboro had baseruuners picked off by Hudson Valley catcher Carlos Narvaez. Francisco Acuna hit a key two-run double, but he was thrown out easily trying to stretch the hit into a triple. And the Hoppers committed four errors in the game, including two ill-advised pickoff throws that changed the complexion of innings.

Quinn Priester, a right-hander considered Pittsburgh’s top pitching prospect and who was the ace of last year’s starting staff, returned to Greensboro and made an injury rehab start. He threw 50 pitches and gave up five runs on six hits, but he also broke four Renegades bats.

Soft-tossing Jeffrey Passantino, who is also in Greensboro on an injury rehab assignment, retired all four batters he faced, striking out two. His fastball topped out at 83 mph, but he hit spots on the corners of the plate and mixed in a big-breaking 68 mph curveball to keep hitters off-stride.

Domingo Gonzalez pitched well in relief but was hurt by two home runs in an otherwise solid 4 ⅔ innings.

NOTES

• Leadoff hitter Yoyner Fajardo went 0-for-4 with a walk, and he lost an extra-base hit on a ball hit down the right-field line ruled foul. Fajardo has hit safely in 20 of 28 games played, with 10 multi-hit games. Fajardo is 31-for-105, and his batting average dipped to .295, the first time below .300 since April 21.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with an RBI double, two runs scored and a walk. He 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 22 of 27 games since then, with 11 multi-hit games. Gonzalez is 36-for-102 (.353) with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 14 RBIs.
• Right fielder Fabricio Macias, who played for the Hoppers in 2019 and 2021, was originally sent back to Greensboro on an injury rehab assignment May 31. He's 16-for-53 (.302) with three doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs in 15 games since rejoining the Hoppers.
• Left fielder Sammy Siani reached base in four of his five plate appearances Tuesday. The 21-year-old outfielder, who leads the Hoppers with 15 stolen bases, was the 37th overall pick in the 2019 draft, a high school player selected between the first and second rounds.
• Center fielder Hudson Head, a 21-year-old rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 20 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, went 0-for-5 but made a fine leaping catch at the wall. Head has reached base in 30 of his last 34 games.