GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 1, 2018) -Brandon Miller opened with five perfect innings, but the Suns offense heated up late as the Hoppers lost, 8-6, on Tuesday at First National Bank Field. Greensboro (13-10) tallied 12 hits but gave up 12 to Hagerstown, all coming in the sixth inning or later.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 1, 2018) -Brandon Miller opened with five perfect innings, but the Suns offense heated up late as the Hoppers lost, 8-6, on Tuesday at First National Bank Field. Greensboro (13-10) tallied 12 hits but gave up 12 to Hagerstown, all coming in the sixth inning or later.
Greensboro led 6-4 going into the eighth inning when Hagerstown plated four runs in an inning for the second time on the night. Anderson Franco's RBI-single opened the two-out rally as all four Suns runs crossed the plate with two outs. Luis Garcia belted with a 2-run home run (1), and Nick Banks followed suit for the first back-to-back jacks against Greensboro this season, giving Hagerstown an 8-6 lead.
Ben Braymer (3-0) earned the win for Hagerstown, working 3 and 2/3 innings of relief, while Colton Hock (3-2) suffered the loss for Greensboro.
Miller worked quickly early in the game, inducing a pair of groundouts and striking out a batter in the first inning. He added three more strikeouts over the second, third, and fourth innings. In the fifth, Miller baffled Anderson Franco for a strikeout before fielding his position on a Luis Garcia bunt attempt for the second out of the frame. Nick Banks grounded out to end the inning, giving Miller 15-up and 15-down to open the game.
Greensboro took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jose Devers led off the home half of the frame with a base hit, and two batters later, Isael Soto doubled him in for the game's first run. Lazaro Alonso followed with his own RBI-double to cash Soto.
Marcos Rivera led off the bottom of the fourth with his first home run (1) of the season, a blast to left-center field for a 3-0 lead. Later in the inning, Sam Castro chipped in a two-out RBI-single to plate Zach Sullivan. Micah Brown belted a 2-run home run (2) in the fifth inning, boosting the lead to 6-0.
In the top of the sixth, Alejandro Flores grounded out before Kameron Esthay broke up Miller's gem with a double off the wall in right-center field. Hitting proved contagious for Hagerstown in the sixth inning as Jack Sundberg and Cole Freeman followed a walk with RBI-singles to cut the Hoppers lead to 6-2, chasing Miller from the game.
Yasel Antuna continued the sixth inning with a ground ball to second base that Sam Castro misplayed, scoring Sundberg on the error. Anderson Franco added a two-out RBI-double to cap the 4-run frame, puling Hagerstown within two, 6-4.
The Grasshoppers continue this 3-game series against the Suns on Wednesday as RHP Ryan Lillie (1-0, 3.68 ERA) takes the mound for Greensboro against Hagerstown's RHP Tomas Alastre (0-1, 6.00 ERA) at 12:00 p.m. at First National Bank Field. Gates open Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., and tickets are available online at gsohoppers.com.
