Hoppers rally late, but lose to Greenville in 10 innings

GREENSBORO ― Greenville reliever Alex Scherff struck out two hitters with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, as the Drive held off the Greensboro Grasshoppers 8-7 in a Thirsty Thursday marathon game at First National Bank Field.

The loss snapped the Hoppers' three-game winning streak, but Greensboro (25-20) did not go quietly, hitting four home runs in the game. Greensboro trailed 7-1 after five innings, but the Hoppers rallied for five runs in the seventh inning and then had chances to win the game in both the ninth and 10th innings.

The Drive (24-21) held on thanks to right-hander Scherff (2-0, 2.75 ERA), who worked two scoreless innings to close it out. Both innings were adventures, as the Hoppers advanced three runners to third base ― one thrown out trying to score, one thrown out trying to get back to third and the last stranded.

Greenville scored an unearned run in the top of the 10th off Hoppers reliever Bear Bellomy (5-2, 3.24 ERA). Bellomy retired all three batters he faced, but with the High-A East's extra-inning rules the Drive was able to score without a hit to win the game.

Dominic D'Alessandro was placed at second base to start the 10th. He took third on a groundout and scored on Cole Brannen's sacrifice fly to deep left field. Bellomy struck out Nick Sogard to end the inning.

The Hoppers ran into some bad luck in their half of the 10th. Fabricio Macias was placed at second, and he advanced on Jared Triolo's infield hit, a slow roller to third base. Chase Murray singled on a drag bunt to first base, but Macias had to hold at third, loading the bases.

Then came the bad luck. Scherff threw a pitch in the dirt that got away from catcher Elih Marrero. But the ball bounced off the plate umpire's leg, right back to Marrero. Macias had started toward home, and he lost his footing and fell trying to retreat to third. Marrero picked him off easily for the first out.

Grant Koch drew a walk to reload the bases with one out, but Scherff struck out Francisco Acuna and Matthew Fraizer to strand all three runners and end the game.

Macias led the Hoppers offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a solo home run. The 23-year-old outfielder from Mexico has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, with 11 mutli-hit games during that stretch. He's batting .500 (15-for-30) during a current seven-game hitting streak to raise his batting average to a team-high .336, second-best in the High-A East.

Macias' 35 RBIs also rank second in the league.

The Hoppers tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Koch and Acuna hit back-to-back solo home runs. Fraizer drew a walk, and Matt Gorski followed with a long two-run home run over the hill beyond the wall in left-center field.

The big inning continued when Liover Peguero singled, and Lolo Sanchez and Macias drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Triolo drove in the final run on a sacrifice fly, robbed of extra bases on the play by Tyler Dearden's diving catch near the left-field line.

Right-hander Alex Manasa kept Greensboro in the game, coming on with one out in fifth inning after the Drive had scored seven runs on six hits and nine walks.

Manasa retired the next 10 batters in a row, and 14 of the 15 he faced in 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He walked none and struck out four.

Greensboro's Tahnaj Thomas, rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 6 prospect, started the game and struggled with his control. He gave up three earned runs on two hits and seven walks in 2 2/3 innings. He threw 76 pitches, just 32 for strikes.

NOTES: Left-hander Omar Cruz was promoted to the Class-AA Altoona Curve after Wednesday's game. Cruz was the No. 4 starter in Greensboro's pitching rotation and was slated to start Friday's game against the Greenville Drive. The 22-year-old Cruz is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system. He went 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA in seven starts, striking out 38 in 28 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a .168 batting average. ... Right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (1-0, 3.54 ERA), who hasn't pitched since June 2, seems the likely candidate to take Cruz's spot in the rotation when he's ready to pitch again.