Strong pitching lifts Hoppers to first win of season

Nick Garcia gets win in relief as bullpen shuts down Rome in last six innings

Utility infielder Francisco Acuna returns to Greensboro after playing 31 games with the Grasshoppers last seasons (Jak Kerley/Greensboro Grasshoppers)

By Jeff Mills

April 10, 2022

GREENSBORO ― In the light of day, on the first sunny Sunday afternoon game of the season, the Greensboro Grasshoppers found the kind of pitching they lacked the two dark nights before. Santiago Florez and three relievers combined to shut down Rome's offense, and Greensboro closed out its opening weekend

GREENSBORO ― In the light of day, on the first sunny Sunday afternoon game of the season, the Greensboro Grasshoppers found the kind of pitching they lacked the two dark nights before.

Santiago Florez and three relievers combined to shut down Rome's offense, and Greensboro closed out its opening weekend with a 3-2 victory over the Braves at First National Bank Field.

Florez gave up Bryson Horne's two-run double with two out in the first inning, but then the big right-hander settled down and retired the next seven batters he faced.

After that, the bullpen was brilliant.

Right-hander Nick Garcia (1-0) won in relief, striking out five in three hitless innings. Ricky DeVito followed with two scoreless innings, and Cameron Junker retired all three men he faced in the ninth for his first save.

In all, Greensboro's pitchers allowed just three hits, walked three and struck out 10.

Yoyner Fajardo made his first start of the season for the Hoppers, and he drove in the go-ahead run in the second inning.

Sammy Siani led off with a single, stole second base and scored on Fajardo's two-out single to left field.

The Hoppers responded to Horne's two-run double with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Henry Davis reached on a pop-fly single, a ball lost in the sun. Greensboro took advantage. Abrahan Gutierrez ripped a double down the left-field line to drive home Davis, and Jackson Glenn followed with an RBI double off the wall in right field.

Siani finished 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, and Glenn went 2-for-4 with his RBI double.

With the win, the Hoppers rebounded from back-to-back losses to start the new South Atlantic League season.

Braves 5, Hoppers 4

The Hoppers missed out on a chance to win the series when a ninth-inning rally Saturday night came up short. Endy Rodriguez hit a two-out RBI double, but he was stranded at second when Henry Davis grounded out on a ball up the middle as Rome eked out a 5-4 victory.

Dariel Lopez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run for Greensboro, and Davis had an RBI single in the first inning. Rodriguez and Hudson Head finished with two hits apiece.

The Hoppers get a day off Monday before their rivalry series against the Winston-Salem Dash begins at Truist Stadium.

In his career at the News & Record, journalist Jeff Mills won 10 national and 12 state writing awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, and the N.C. Press Association.