Preview: Hoppers hope to stop slide at Drive

Today's Preview: The Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) look to snap the team's longest losing skid of the year as they face the Drive (A, Red Sox) in Friday's series finale at Fluor Field. Greensboro has dropped eight in a row after last winning on Aug. 7 at home against West Virginia and now has an elimination number of five (combination of first place wins and Greensboro losses) before being mathematically out of the 2018 postseason. Greenville is currently tied with Lexington atop the SAL Southern Division standings with a little more than two weeks to go in the season as both teams fight for the Second Half title and the right to face the Rome Braves in the Southern Division series.
Hoppers Hurler: Taylor Braley, 22, makes his 15th start of the season and first against a Red Sox affiliate in his career. He is coming off a home loss to Asheville on August 10, giving up four runs on five hits in 6.0 innings, striking out five and walking none. Prior to that, he had earned wins in four of his last five starts with the Grasshoppers dating back to May 28 at Hagerstown. Braley missed roughly a month of action due to injury this season, pitching for the Hoppers on June 13 vs. Hickory before returning to action again July 24 with a pair of rehab appearances with the GCL Marlins. He rejoined Greensboro on August 5 with 5.0 scoreless innings at Kannapolis to earn a win. Braley is now 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA (4 ER/11.0 IP) and nine strikeouts in two games (two starts) since returning to the South Atlantic League after he began the season 4-5 with a 4.59 ERA (35 ER/68.2 IP) and 58 strikeouts in 12 games (12 starts) in the first half. The right-hander split last season between the GCL Marlins and Batavia, going 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA (6 ER/20.1 IP) and 22 strikeouts in eight games (three starts). The Marlins selected Braley in the sixth round of the June 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Southern Mississippi.
About Last Night: Ethan Clark struck out a season-high eight batters, but the Hoppers fell, 4-2, to the Drive on Thursday. The Drive scored two in the first and two more in the sixth while Greensboro came away with two runs in the third thanks to a Connor Scott sacrifice fly and ensuring Thomas Jones RBI-single to score Isael Soto and Garvis Lara, respectively. Clark (0-1) took the loss, working 5.0 innings in relief of starting pitcher Edward Cabrera, who worked 2.0 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Clark also gave up two runs (one earned) during his outing, striking out eight and walking one. It was Clark's highest single-game strikeout total since his last start against Greenville - July 20, 2017 - when he fanned a career-high 10 batters over 5 and 1/3 innings for Greensboro. Enmanuel De Jesus (7-4) earned the win. Marcos Latingua tossed the final 2.0 innings for the save (4). Zach Sterry belted a 2-run home run (4) in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie and give the Drive the lead for good.
Ugly Streakers: Greensboro extended its season-long streak to eight losses, the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. In the Grasshoppers era (since 2005), Greensboro has had just three losing streaks longer than the team's current slide. The Hoppers lost nine straight games May 28-June 5, 2005, during the team's inaugural season and again June 18-30, 2015. Two years ago, Greensboro lost a franchise-worst 14 straight games from August 23-September 5, 2016 to wrap up the regular season.
Staring Down a Sweep: Greensboro has been swept three times this season, all by Southern Division foes. The Hoppers lost a 3-game series to Augusta (April 9-11), a 3-game series on the road at Asheville (May 9-11), and a 4-game set in Greensboro also to the Tourists (Aug. 10-13). As the Hoppers play Friday's series finale against Greenville, the team is once again on the brink of suffering a sweep at the hands of a Southern Division foe.
Serving Up Ks: Drive starting Enmanual De Jesus fanned 10 batters Thursday, the most recent opposing pitcher with double-digit strikeouts against the Hoppers since July 25 when BlueClaws starter Spencer Howard fanned 10 in 5.1 innings. There have been five individual pitchers to fan double-digit batters against Greensboro in 2018.

Aug.15 at Greenville: Enmanual De Jesus (10 K/7.0 IP)
July 25 at Lakewood: Spencer Howard (10 K/5.1 IP)
July 9 at Lexington: Carlos Hernandez (12 K/7.0 IP)
July 7 at Lexington: Andres Sotillet (10 K/9.0 IP)
May 30 at Lakewood: Will Stewart (10 K/9.0 IP)
Eight-Game Slide: The Hoppers dropped their eighth straight game on Friday, extending the team's longest losing skid of the season. Here is a look at the longest losing streaks in team history.
Losses: Season (Dates): Notes
14: 2016 (8/23 - 9/5): Swept in final four series of year: at LWD, at HAG, vs. DEL, at LWD
9: 2015 96/18 - 6/30): Included 5-game series loss at West Virginia to open 2nd Half
9: 2005 (5/28 - 6/5): Longest losing streak of inaugural season, mark stood for 10 years
8: 2018 (8/9(1) - 8/16): Included 4-game sweep by Asheville with 9 HR allowed
7: 2015 (8/26 - 9/1): Late-season slide began with loss to Yoán Moncada and GVL
7: 2015 (8/10 - 8/17): Losing streak started and ended with extra-inning losses
7: 2013 (4/24 - 5/1): Austin Brice, Blake Logan each take two losses during streak
7: 2008 (6/26 - 7/3): Swept 4 vs. KAN, 2 at WVA before series-opening win vs. DEL
7: 2008 (4/22 - 4/29): Fell in 14-inning game, 8-7, to Hagerstown on 4/24
7: 2007 (8/27 - 9/3): Dropped 4 to KAN and 3 at WVA to wrap regular season
7: 2006 (6/6 - 6/11): Lost 4 in a row to HIC and 3 at LEX
6: 2018 (5/5 - 5/11): Allowed nine or more runs in four of six games in slide
6: 2016 (7/9 - 7/17[1]): Had won 9 straight to be season-high 16 games above .500
6: 2016 (4/8 - 4/13): After opening season with a win, dropped next six to fall to 1-6
6: 2012 (7/1 - 7/6): Lost 17-2 by pitchers walking 11 batters at Kannapolis on July 5
6: 2010 (5/21 - 5/26): Longest losing streak of 2010 and longest since 6/26-7/3/2008
ClarKKKKKKKK:Ethan Clark came out of the bullpen to fan a season-high eight batters on Thursday, matching the most by a Grasshoppers reliever this season. Dustin Beggs also fanned eight batters out of the bullpen April 27 at Asheville. In addition to matching the most strikeouts by a reliever for Greensboro, Ethan Clark also equaled the longest relief outing by a Hoppers pitcher this season, joining Sean Guenther, with a 5.0 inning appearance out of the bullpen in Thursday's loss at Greenville. Clark tossed 5.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with a walk and his season-best eight strikeouts. Guenther worked 5.0 relief innings on July 13 vs. Kannapolis.