'Dads Bats Bottled Up in 5-2 Loss
Hickory, NC - The Hickory Crawdads received a jolt of offense when Jose Almonte clubbed a 2-run home run in his first at-bat in nearly 3 weeks Monday night, but that would be all the 'Dads bats could muster as Hickory fell to the visiting Greensboro Grasshoppers by a final score of 5-2 at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Almonte rejoined the Crawdads following an 18-day stint on the Extended Spring Training roster and promptly lined a go-ahead, 2-out, 2-run home run to left in his first at-bat in the 2nd inning. That big blast proved to be the last burst of offense for the 'Dads however, as Hickory was held scoreless on a hit, a walk, and hit batter over the remaining 7 innings.
Greensboro jumped on top of the Crawdads with a run in the top of the 2nd, as Roy Morales drew a leadoff walk off of 'Dads starter Pedro Payano before stealing second base and scoring on an RBI double from Justin Twine for a 1-0 Grasshoppers lead. Hickory responded in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff, infield single by Dylan Moore followed two outs later by Almonte's 2-run blast to left to give the Crawdads a 2-1 advantage.
The 'Hoppers quickly tied the score with an unearned tally in the 3rd, when Casey Stolis walked, was sacrificed over to second, and eventually scored on a fielding error by 'Dads third baseman Frandy De La Rosa to deadlock the game at 2-2.
Both starting pitchers settled in from there, with Payano going 6 total innings with 2 runs allowed, 1 earned run, on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Greensboro starter Chris Paddack lasted 4.1 IP with 2 runs given up on 4 hits.
The score remained tied until the 7th, when the Grasshoppers mounted a 2-out rally against Hickory reliever Blake Bass to score 3 runs for a 5-2 lead. Bass began the inning with back-to-back strikeouts before walking Soltis and allowing a single to Anfernee Seymour. The righty reliever looked to be out of the inning when the next batter, Zach Sullivan, hit a ground ball to third, but De La Rosa threw low to first base with the resulting error allowing a run to score and the frame to continue. Two batters later, Morales delivered a 2-RBI single to left to give the 'Hoppers the 5-2 advantage they would go on to win by.
Bass (2-1) took the loss for the Crawdads with 3 unearned runs allowed on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in his 1 inning pitched. Grasshoppers' reliever Jeff Kinley (5-2) earned the win after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Almonte finished the game 1-2 with his 5th homer of the season and a hit-by-pitch, while Moore went 1-4 with a run scored.
The Crawdads (32-24) and Grasshoppers (30-27) will play again Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in game two of the 3-game series.
###