Zavala's two HRs help Hickory beat Hoppers

HICKORY ― Aaron Zavala hit two home runs, and 19-year-old prospect Evan Carter went 2-for-5 with a two-run double, leading the Hickory Crawdads to a 7-5 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at L.P. Frans Stadium on Saturday night.

Luisangel Acuña went 2-for-4 with a walk and three stolen bases for the Crawdads, who built a 7-2 lead through six innings.

Winning pitcher Owen White (2-2) walked two and struck out seven in five innings.

Hoppers catcher Endy Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with his sixth and seventh doubles of the season, and he scored two runs. 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.

Greensboro's Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, a walk and a run scored.

Starting pitcher Adrian Florencio (1-4) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out three.

Hudson Head went 0-for-3 to snap an eight-game hitting streak. But the 21-year-old outfielder, rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, drew a walk and has reached base in 14 of his last 15 games.

NOTES

• Greensboro finished with 12 hits, but the Hoppers went just 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez, the 23-year-old son of former big-league All-Sar Luis Gonzalez, has hits in all four games he's played since joining the Hoppers. Gonzalez homered in his first two games, and he is 9-for-15 (.600) with six RBIs. ... 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.
• Matt Gorski went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and is batting .265. Gorski ranks second in the South Atlantic League with 24 runs scored. Gorski is third in the league in both home runs (8) and RBIs (25). Gorski also leads the Hoppers in stolen bases (9). Gorski has hits in four of his last five games. He has been on base in 27 of 30 games played so far this season.
• Corner outfielder Jack Herman went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and he has hit safely in 12 of his last 16 games.
• Yoyner Fajardo is 16-for-50 and his .320 batting average would rank in the top-10 in the Sally League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. Fajardo has hit safely in 10 of 13 games played, with six multi-hit games.