Top pick Henry Davis homers in home debut, but Hoppers lose slugfest

GREENSBORO ― Top draft pick Henry Davis hit his first home run with Greensboro, but the Grasshoppers lost their series opener against the league-leading Bowling Green Hot Rods in a 17-8 slugfest on a rainy Tuesday night at First National Bank Field.

The loss snapped Greensboro's seven-game winning streak.

Davis, a 21-year-old catcher and All-ACC star at Louisville, was the No. 1 overall pick in the July 11 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He signed July 18 and was assigned to the Hoppers on Thursday.

Davis went 2-for-4 with a home run, a sacrifice fly and two RBIs in his home debut in Greensboro. His home run was an opposite-field solo shot deep over the wall in right-center field. Davis is 3-for-9 in three games with the Hoppers.

But it was Bowling Green that lit up the scoreboard with five home runs off four Hoppers pitchers.

Jordan Qsar went 3-for-5 with two homers and eight RBIs to lead the onslaught. Connor Hollis hit a pair of solo shots, and switch-hitting Evan Edwards ― a Greensboro native who starred at Southern Guilford and N.C. State ― hit his 18th homer of the season, a two-run shot.

High-A East player of the week Will Matthiessen went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs to lead Greensboro's offense. Matthiessen is 11-for-22 with five doubles, a home run and nine RBIs in games against Bowling Green this summer.

The Hoppers pounded out 15 hits in the loss. Jonah Davis hit an RBI double, and Aaron Shackelford went 2-for-5 with his 50th RBI of the season.

Right-hander Grant Ford (7-3, 5.25 ERA) started and took the loss. He gave up five earned runs in three innings, a setback after going 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA since moving into the starting rotation July 2.

The series is a matchup of the top two teams in the High-A East's South Division. Bowling Green (64-27) leads Greensboro (58-33) by six games in the standings, but the Hoppers hold a one game lead over North Division leader Hudson Valley (57-34) in the race for the league's second playoff spot.

The teams with the top two records, regardless of division, qualify for the league's five-game championship series in September. Greensboro has five more games at home against Bowling Green this week, and the Hoppers play 12 of their last 18 games against Hudson Valley.

Notes

• Greensboro has won 17 of its last 23 games and is 30-11 since July 1. The Hoppers have won or split all 15 of their six-game series this season.
• Hoppers third baseman Jared Triolo went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored. He has hit safely in 33 of his last 35 games, batting .361 (52-for-144) with eight doubles, seven home runs, 31 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in that span. He ranks second in the High-A East (behind promoted teammate Matt Fraizer) with a .306 batting average, and Triolo is third in the league with 62 RBIs.
• Lefty-hitting Blake Sabol went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI. Sabol has hit safely in 20 of his last 25 games, going 32-for-95 (.337) with five home runs, six doubles and three triples during that span.
• Second basemand Nick Gonzales, who was the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft and rated by MLB Pipeline as the Pirates' top prospect, went 2-for-5 and has batted .341 (31-for-91) with four home runs, five doubles and a triple in his last 21 games, raising his season batting average to .283.