New-look Hickory hits 5 HRs in win over Ocelotes

GREENSBORO ― In the long baseball season, there are days to remember and days to forget.

For the Ocelotes de Grasshoppers (aka the Grasshoppers), this was a night to forget.

Dustin Harris hit a pair of two-run home runs, and the new-look Hickory Llamas (aka the Crawdads) hit five home runs in all on the way to a 15-3 victory over the Hoppers at First National Bank Field on Tuesday night.

Three players in Hickory's starting lineup were just acquired from the New York Yankees' farm system in the trade than sent Texas slugger Joey Gallo from the Rangers to the Bronx.

All three new Crawdads hurt the Hoppers. Ezequiel Duran hit a grand slam in the fifth inning that put the game out of reach early. Trevor Hauver went 2-for-3 with a solo home run. And lead-off hitter Josh Smith beat out an RBI infield single and scored a run.

Hickory hit three home runs and scored five runs off Greensboro starter Grant Ford (6-2, 4.96 ERA), then tagged reliever Garrett Leonard for eight runs in two innings. The Hoppers defense made a season-high four errors after the game was already out of reach.

Aaron Shackelford homered for the second time in his last three games. His 17th home run of the season was a moonshot, a towering blast that reached the hotel across Eugene Street, far beyond the right-field fence. Electronic measurements clocked an exit velocity of 95 mph and an estimated distance of 487 feet if the building hadn't gotten in the way.

Jared Triolo and Matt Gorski both went 2-for-4 with doubles for Greensboro.

Gorski extended his hitting streak to six games. Triolo, meanwhile, has hit safely in 22 of his last 25 games, batting .365 (38-for-104) with seven doubles, four home runs, 26 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in that span. He ranks fourth in the High-A East with 57 RBIs, and he has raised his batting average from .237 on June 1 to .299 through Aug. 3.

Liover Peguero, a shortstop rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 4 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, went 0-for-4 to snap a seven-game hitting streak and a four-game home run streak.

Notes

• The game was part of Minor League Baseball's "Copa de Diversion" promotion, and for one night the teams wore Ocelotes de Greensboro and Hickory Llamas uniforms.
• Greensboro (49-30) remains in second place behind Bowling Green in the High-A East's South Division, and fell two games behind North Division leader Hudson Valley in the race for the second of two playoff spots.
• Greensboro has won eight of its last 11 games and is 21-8 since July 1.
• Lead-off hitter Matthew Fraizer went 0-for-3, but the 23-year-old outfielder still leads the league in hits (95), walks (43), runs (64), home runs (20) and batting average (.314).
• Blake Sabol went 1-for-4 and has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, going 20-for-51 (.392) with four doubles and five home runs during that span.
• Utility infielder Andres Alvarez pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for Greensboro, allowing no runs on one hit and a strikeout.
• Right-hander Alex Manasa was promoted to Class-AAA Indianapolis on Monday. Manasa was 1-1 with a 5.27 ERA in 18 relief appearances for the Hoppers.
• Outfielder Fabricio Macias has batted .293 with seven RBIs in 18 games for Class-AAA Indianapolis since being promoted from Greensboro on July 6.