Aaron Shackelford hits for cycle in bounce-back victory

LAKEWOOD, N.J. ― There are bounce-back wins, and then there are Bounce-Back Wins with capital letters.

The kind like Tuesday's win.

Aaron Shackelford hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs, and the Greensboro Grasshoppers clobbered the Jersey Shore BlueClaws 21-4 at FirstEnergy Park on Tuesday night.

Shackelford finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored and seven RBIs. He hit a two-run double in the second inning. He singled and hit a two-run home run ― his 21st of the season ― in the big sixth inning when Greensboro scored 11 runs. And he hit a bases-loaded triple in the ninth inning.

Shackelford's cycle was one highlight in a huge offensive night for the Hoppers.

Matt Gorski went 5-for-6 with his 16th home run of the season for Greensboro, which scored 21 runs on 26 hits two days after the Hoppers lost their regular-season home finale 23-4.

Bounce-back indeed.

Lead-off hitter Andres Alvarez went 3-for-6 with a home run, a double and three RBIs. Alvarez has homered in four consecutive games.

Blake Sabol also went 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.

Jared Triolo and Will Matthiessen had three hits apiece, with Triolo doubling twice and Matthieseen driving in two runs.

The Hoppers have won 11 of their last 14 games, and they inched closer to postseason berth, cutting their magic number to eight.

Greensboro (70-39) holds a 4 1/2-game lead on North Division leader Hudson Valley (65-43) with 11 games left in the Hoppers' season. Any combination of Hoppers wins and Renegades losses adding up to eight clinches a playoff berth for the Grasshoppers.

The Hoppers trail Bowling Green (75-34) by five games in the South Division standings, but Greensboro controls its own playoff destiny. The Grasshoppers close the regular season on the road next week with six head-to-head games against the Renegades in Wappingers Falls, near Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

The two teams with the best records ― regardless of division ― qualify for the High-A East's best-of-five championship series. The playoffs begin with two games at the lower seed's home park Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21 and 22. Thursday is a travel day to the top seed's ballpark, with games Sept. 24, 25 and 26 if necessary.

The offensive explosion overshadowed the return of right-hander Michael Burrows to the starting rotation.

Burrows, a 21-year-old rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 14 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, went on the injured list July 16 with an oblique injury. He allowed one hit and one walk in two scoreless innings Tuesday, throwing 30 pitches and lowering his ERA to 2.15.

Santiago Florez (3-2, 6.98 ERA) picked up the win in relief, throwing two scoreless innings.

Notes

• Second baseman Nick Gonzales, the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft and a player ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Pirates' No. 4 prospect, went 1-for-3 with two walks Tuesday. Gonzales was the High-A East's player of the month in August. He went on the injured list with a broken finger in May, and he was batting just .214 on July 15. In the 42 games since then, Gonzales has raised his batting average to .303 by hitting .361 (65-for-180) with 14 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs.
• The Hoppers are playing their 19th six-game series of the season. They have won or split 17 of 18 series so far. Since splitting their first five series of the season, the Grasshoppers are 55-24 (.696 win percentage).
• Shortstop Liover Peguero, the Pirates' No. 5 prospect, hasn't played since leaving Thursday night's game after apparently twisting an ankle on the first-base bag while beating out an infield single. Andres Alvarez replaced Peguero in that game and has started the four games since then. In those four starts, Alvarez is 8-for-19 (.421) with home runs in all four games, a double, six RBIs and six runs scored. Alvarez, a part-time player, is on a nine-game hitting streak dating back to Aug. 15. He's 16-for-36 (.444) during the streak.
• Third baseman Jared Triolo leads the High-A East with 117 hits, and he ranks second with 74 RBIs and a .305 batting average. Triolo was batting just .217 on June 2, but in 76 games since then he has batted .329 with 23 doubles, 12 home runs, 59 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
• In his last 10 games, catcher/DH Blake Sabol is 15-for-42 (.357) with three home runs, two doubles, 11 runs scored and 10 RBIs.
• Center fielder Jonah Davis was sent down from Class-AA Altoona on Aug. 5 and went just 2-for-25 in his first eight games. But in 16 games since then, Davis is 17-for-48 (.354) with six home runs, three doubles, 10 walks and 16 RBIs.
• Left fielder Lolo Sanchez leads the league with 29 stolen bases and 52 walks. In his last 23 games, Sanchez has batted .337 (29-for-86) with 23 runs scored.
• Right fielder Matt Gorski was batting just .201 on July 25, but in 25 games since then he has raised his average 31 points by going 30-for-97 (.309) with seven doubles and six home runs.