10,031 watch Hoppers tumble disappointed
GREENSBORO -- A season-high crowd of 10,031 showed up at NewBridge Bank Park for the Fourth of July Fireworks night, but the Grasshoppers were unable to produce a win in a 5-3 loss to the Lake County Captains on Saturday in the first night of an eight-game homestand.
The Hoppers sent Graham Johnson to the mound, who was undefeated in four home decisions this year.
But Johnson ran into trouble from an unexpected source. After not allowing a home run in 10 games this season, Johnson allowed a solo homer in the second inning to Mark Thompson and a two-run blast in the fourth to Donnie Webb.
"Tonight he elevated some fastballs on fastball counts and guys got some good swings and hit the fastball well against him and that was it," Greensboro pitching coach Charlie Corbell said.
The Captains added two more runs in the sixth inning, chasing Johnson in the process. The Hoppers could have been out of the inning without any runs scoring but Daniel Pertusati committed a throwing error on the back end of a potential inning-ending double play ball.
While Lake County put across multiple runs in an inning twice, Greensboro also scored in three innings, but each time could only plate one run at a time, as the Hoppers had trouble getting the ball out of the infield versus Captains starter T.J. McFarland.
"It looked like he commanded the zone very well against us," Corbell said. "He mixed speeds and that made it very difficult for the hitters."
In the second inning Justin Jacobs hit a one-out single and scored on a double off the wall by Torre Langley. The throw to the plate beat Jacobs, but he slid under the tag to tie the score at 1-1. The run snapped an 11-inning scoreless stretch for Greensboro.
In the sixth inning, Kevin Mattison extended his hitting streak to nine games with a leadoff double. After advancing to third on a ground out, he scored on a wild pitch.
McFarland pitched 52/3 innings and had four strikeouts, 10 ground ball outs and two infield pop-ups.
Ben Lasater extended his home on-base streak to 19 games when he homered in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-3.
The Captains brought on closer Steve Smith for the ninth inning. He allowed a two-out single to pinch-hitter Jeremy Synan but induced a fly out to end the game and record his 14th save.
LAKE COUNTY GREENSBORO
|
|
AB | R | H | BI | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Cid cf | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Galloway cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greenwell lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Mattison rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sanchez 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Smolinski dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Recknagel dh | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Lasater 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Webb rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Jacobs lf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Nash 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Langley c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Thompson ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Pertusati 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Valadez c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Dayleg ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Willard 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Synan ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ontiveros 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 10 | 4 | Totals | 35 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
|
Lake County |
010 | 202 | 000 | -- | 5 | |
| Greensboro | 010 | 001 | 010 | -- | 3 |
|
Lake County |
ip | h | r | er | bb | so |
| McFarland W, 5-3 | 52/3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Langwell | 21/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Smith S, 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greensboro | ip | h | r | er | bb | so |
| Johnson L, 5-2 | 51/3 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Encarnacion | 22/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Loomis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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