Newcomer Gonzalez homers again in Hoppers' loss

HICKORY ― Luisangel Acuña went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs, leading the Hickory Crawdads to an 8-3 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at L.P. Frans Stadium on Wednesday night.

Acuña, a 20-year-old shortstop, is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 10 prospect in the Texas Rangers' farm system.

Frainyer Chavez and Aaron Zavala had two hits and two runs scored apiece for the Crawdads, who roughed up Hoppers starter Jared Jones (2-1). The 20-year-old right-hander gave up six earned runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Jacob Gonzalez continued his hot start for Greensboro, going 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Gonzalez, the son of former big-league All-Sar Luis Gonzalez, has homered in back-to-back games since joining the Hoppers, going 5-for-7 with five RBIs in two games.

Endy Rodriguez and Abrahan Gutierrez had two hits apiece for the Hoppers, while Dariel Lopez went 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two walks.

Hudson Head went 1-for-4 with an RBI, extending his hitting streak to seven games. The 21-year-old outfielder, rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, has reached base in 12 of his last 13 games.

NOTES

• The Hoppers went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez batted .393 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 24 games for the Bradenton Marauders before his promotion to Greensboro. He was a second-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2017, turning pro right out of high school, and is in his fifth minor-league season.
• Center fielder Matt Gorski went 1-for-3 with a walk. Gorski is batting .273, and he leads the South Atlantic League with 24 runs scored. Gorski ranks third in the league in both home runs (8) and RBIs (23). Gorski also leads the Hoppers in stolen bases (9). He has been on base in 25 of 27 games played so far this season.
• Hard-throwing Jared Jones, a 20-year-old right-hander rated as Pittsburgh's No. 12 prospect by MLB Pipeline, ranks fourth in the South Atlantic league with 36 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings.
• Endy Rodriguez, a 21-year-old rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect, has played four positions ― catcher, first base, second base and left field ― so far this season.
• Yoyner Fajardo is 15-for-45 and his .333 batting average would rank fourth in the Sally League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. Fajardo has hit safely in nine of 12 games played, with six multi-hit games.