Preview: Beggs back on the bump

Today's Preview: The Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) enter Friday's game on a 4-game winning streak, the team's longest this season, as they face the Suns (A, Nationals) in Game 2 of this 3-game series to open the Second Half. Greensboro is tied for first place in the South Atlantic League Northern Division Second Half standings - along with three other teams - as records reset after the All-Star Break.
Hoppers Hurlers: Dustin Beggs, who turned 25 last week, makes his fourth start and 14th appearance of the season as he faces the Suns for the third time in 2018. He is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA (3 ER/8.1 IP) and seven strikeouts in two games (one start) against Hagerstown. As a starter this season, Beggs is 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA in 13.2 innings and 19 strikeouts compared to two walks while allowing a .163 average. Out of the bullpen, he is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA (11 ER/22.0 IP) and 27 strikeouts with a .292 average against. In his second outing of the year, Beggs matched his career-high with eight strikeouts in a 3.0-inning relief appearance on April 27 at Asheville. He then bested that with 10 strikeouts over 5.0 innings June 12 versus Hickory. Beggs spent all of 2017 with Greensboro in the starting rotation, going 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA (64 ER/149.1 IP) and 107 strikeouts in 26 games (26 starts). Miami selected Beggs in the 16th round of the June 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Kentucky.
About Last Night:Isael Soto drove in all four runs for the Grasshoppers in a 4-3 win over the Hagerstown Suns on Thursday at Municipal Stadium. Soto, who hit a go-ahead 2-run home run (4) in the first inning, broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning with an RBI-double that scored Jose Devers to put Greensboro ahead for good. Soto finished 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and a run scored. Devers joined Marcos Rivera with a 3-hit game as part of the Hoppers 11-hit attack to open the Second Half. Chris Reed (1-0) earned the relief win while AJ Bogucki (1-2) took the loss. Vincenzo Aiello tossed a scoreless ninth for the save (4).
So Much Soto: With his 4-RBI game on Thursday, Isael Soto posted his most RBI in a game this season while tying his career-high. His last 4-RBI game came during his debut season when he went 2-for-4 with a home run on July 19, 2014, with the GCL Marlins at the GCL Nationals. Both of his 4-RBI games have come against Nationals affiliates. Soto is the seventh different Grasshopper to drive in four or more runs in a game this season, joining Will Allen (twice), Cameron Baranek, Micah Brown, Michael Hernandez, Marcos Rivera, and Zach Sullivan. There have been eight games this season in which a Hoppers hitter has driven in four or more runs.
Connect Four: Greensboro has now won four straight games, its longest streak of the 2018 season and first 4-game winning streak since Aug. 12 (1) - Aug. 16, 2017, when the Hoppers won five in a row. The Grasshoppers' longest winning streak of last year came May 4-11 when the team won six straight. Previously this season, Greensboro had four streaks of three straight wins: April 5-8, April 18-20, May 20 (1)-21, and June 3-6.
Road Warriors: With four straight road wins, the Grasshoppers are on their longest road winning streak of the season (previously the team had won back-to-back road games four times in 2018). This is Greensboro's longest road winning streak since winning four straight at Lakewood June 30-July 3, 2016. The Hoppers also won five straight road games in 2016 from May 16-May 27 when they finished one road trip with three wins at Kannapolis an opened the next trip with two wins at Hickory.
Sweep Dreams: Greensboro completed a sweep of Kannapolis for the Grasshoppers' first sweep since the first series of the 2018 season, winning three games against Hickory April 5-8. The Grasshoppers also matched their longest winning streak of the season with three wins in a row, the fifth time the team has accomplished that feat this season.

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