news-record.com

SPORTS

Hoppers come up short against Augusta

Saturday, August 9, 2008
(Updated 6:34 am)

GREENSBORO -- The Greensboro Grasshoppers honored longtime South Atlantic League president John Henry Moss on Friday night with various tributes, but they could not cap the festive night with a win, falling to the Augusta GreenJackets 6-4 at NewBridge Bank Park.

Augusta broke open the game with six straight hits to start the fifth inning, which resulted in four runs and a 6-1 lead. Five of the hits came against starter Kyle Kaminska (5-7) who was in control of the game after giving up two runs to the first three batters of the game.

"I think he did great," Hoppers manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "There were some balls that should have been caught. They were close to being routine ground balls that should have been outs. We didn't make the plays. He did his part but the defense failed him."

Greensboro battled back, thanks to solid relief pitching and two home runs. Three Hoppers relievers combined for five scoreless innings, including Jay Voss, who fanned two batters in his two innings. Voss now has a 1.35 ERA as a reliever compared to a 7.24 mark as a starter.

"He's been a starter throughout his career, Rodriguez said. "The organization decided to put him in the bullpen for a change and to see how he'd react, and he's done great. As for why he's done good, I don't know, maybe he doesn't have time to think about his outing. He's tough and the quality of his pitches are good."

Tom Hickman hit a solo home run in the seventh inning for Greensboro and Matt Dominguez hit a two-run shot in the eighth. It was the third hit of the game for the 2007 first-round draft pick, who also had an RBI double for the Hoppers' first run.

"Matt Dominguez, you can see him getting better and better throughout the season," Rodriguez said. "... He faces tough pitching and takes good at-bats. He's doing outstanding."

Rodriguez says he expects both Hickman and Dominguez to spend the rest of the season with Greensboro.

Augusta reliever Ryan Paul entered in the eighth inning and ended a Hoppers' threat. He then pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to pick up his third save of the season.

The Hoppers drew 8,211 fans to the game. Fans received a commemorative baseball card of Moss, and the league's founder threw out the first pitch. After the game Hoppers president and general manager Donald Moore presented Moss with a jersey with the number 50, which was retired by the South Atlantic League in honor of his 50 years of service to the league.

"I talked to him after he threw out the first pitch," Rodriguez said of Moss. "He's been helping minor-leaguers for years. He was the president when I was playing in the league in 1982. He knows that. He's been a big influence not only in the South Atlantic League, but all leagues in the minors. Mr. Moss cares about the players. He goes a step further from his own job and cares about the players, and that's why he is who he is."

hoppers tonight n Who: Augusta GreenJackets at Greensboro Grasshoppers n When: 7 p.m. today n Where: NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro n GreenJackets pitcher: LHP Madison Bumgarner (11-3, 1.70) n Grasshoppers pitcher: RHP Alex Sanabia (5-3, 4.16) more inside n Hoppers box score. C5 n SAL standings is Scoreboard, C7

eMail Updates

Advertisement | Advertise with Us

Local Tickets

View All

Featured Ads

Search

Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Advertisement | Advertise with Us

News & Record Network Sites

User Tools

  • Social Networking
  • RSS
  • Share
  • Sign in to MyNR

Search