Hoppers snap slide with quick win over BlueClaws

GREENSBORO ― Luke Brown went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and Jase Bowen homered for his first hit since his promotion to Greensboro, as the Grasshoppers beat the Jersey Shore BlueClaws 6-3 at First National Bank Field on a brief Thirsty Thursday.

Brown and Bowen hit back-to-back home runs off losing pitcher Kyle Glogowski (0-4) leading off the bottom of the first inning for the Hoppers, who won the game in a brisk 1 hour and 55 minutes.

Bowen, the Florida State League’s player of the month for July, was promoted from the Bradenton Marauders to Greensboro this week. He was 0-for-8 with five strikeouts in his first two starts, but then lined Glogowski’s 1-0 pitch over the fence in left-center field.

Right-hander Justin Meis (2-4) walked one and struck out six in six strong innings, allowing only a pair of solo home runs and leaving the game with a 4-2 lead.

Hard-throwing Eddy Yean retired all six batters he faced to close the game, striking out two and notching his second save of the season.

Francisco Acuña went 1-for-3 with two runs scored for Greensboro, and Jackson Glenn finished 1-for-1 with two walks and a run scored.

NOTES

• The Hoppers won for just the third time in their last 10 games. Greensboro is 18-20 in the second half of the South Atlantic League season and trails first-place Hudson Valley by 4½ games in the North Division standings.
• Prized prospect Endy Rodriguez, the Sally League’s player of the month for July, hit the ground running in Class-AA after his promotion to the Altoona Curve this week. Rodriguez, who batted .302 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs in 88 games for the Hoppers, has hit safely in all three games since joining the Curve, going 3-for-11 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
• Left fielder Jase Bowen was promoted from Bradenton to fill Rodriguez’s roster spot. The 21-year-old Bowen was Pittsburgh’s 11th-round pick in the 2019 draft. He led the Florida State League with 66 RBIs and 60 runs scored. In 98 games with the Marauders, he batted .278 with 102 hits, 17 doubles, 14 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
• Right-hander Justin Meis, a 10th-round pick in last year’s draft, is 2-4 with a 5.56 ERA in 11 starts since his promotion from Bradenton to Greensboro back on June 7. But ever since two disastrous starts following his promotion, Meis has been very good. In his last nine starts, he is 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA, with 19 walks, 43 strikeouts and a 1.24 WHIP in 43 innings.