Hoppers lose third straight to first-place Aberdeen

Henry Davis goes 2-for-3 in loss and gets hit by pitch for fourth game in a row

Right-handed reliever Grant Ford worked three scoreless innings against Aberdeen on Thursday night. (Greensboro Grasshoppers)

By Jeff Mills

April 22, 2022

GREENSBORO ― Cesar Prieto and Connor Pavolony hit home runs, and John Rhodes went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, leading the Aberdeen IronBirds to a 9-4 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers on the first Thirsty Thursday of the season at First National Bank Field. Starting pitcher Houston Roth

GREENSBORO ― Cesar Prieto and Connor Pavolony hit home runs, and John Rhodes went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, leading the Aberdeen IronBirds to a 9-4 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers on the first Thirsty Thursday of the season at First National Bank Field.

Starting pitcher Houston Roth (1-0) allowed one run in five strong innings as division-leading Aberdeen handed the Hoppers their third consecutive loss.

All nine hitters in Aberdeen's lineup reached base at least once, and the IronBirds finished with 12 hits, going 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's amateur draft, went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch to lead Greensboro's offense. Davis, the No. 2 propect in Pittsburgh's farm system, has been hit by pitches six times in his 11 games this season, including a streak of four games in a row.

Davis is 5-for-9 so far in the series against Aberdeen, raising his batting average to .325.

Utility infielder Francisco Acuna hit a two-run home run for the Hoppers. Matt Gorski and Abrahan Gutierrez chipped in RBI singles.

Right-hander Domingo Gonzalez (0-2) started and took the loss, giving up six earned runs on nine hits in four innings.

Grant Ford pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Greensboro. Hard-throwing Eddy Yean struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth, relying on a fastball clocked between 94-96 mph.

NOTES: Pirates prospect Endy Rodriguez got the night off after playing in Greensboro's first 11 games. The 21-year-old Rodriguez ― a versatile player who has played first base, second base, left field and catcher ― is 13-for-46 (.283) with five multi-hit games. He is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 7 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system. ... Matt Gorski has hit safely in five consecutive games and seven of his last eight. ... Jack Herman also has a five-game hitting streak. ... Second baseman Jackson Glenn went 1-for-4 and has reached base in all eight games he has played so far. Glenn, who has hits in seven of those eight games, leads the Hoppers with a .419 batting average. ... The Hoppers (4-8) trail Aberdeen (9-3) by five games in the South Atlantic League Northern Division standings. ... The Hoppers are 1-5 in one-run games.

In his career at the News & Record, journalist Jeff Mills won 10 national and 12 state writing awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, and the N.C. Press Association.