Burgess blasts away Grasshoppers

Michael Burgess received some high praise Saturday. He'll have to get used to it if he continues swinging the bat the way he did at New Bridge Bank Park.

Burgess homered twice and drove in a season-high five runs, powering the Hagerstown Suns to their third straight win, an 8-6 triumph over the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

With Hagerstown trailing, 1-0, in the fourth inning, Burgess hit a two-run homer off Greensboro starter Hector Correa.

"We tried to throw the ball low and away and Hector hit his spot, but Burgess is just a big-league hitter and was able to reach out and make solid contact," Grasshoppers manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "You have to tip your hat to the Hagerstown squad; they are a good hitting ballclub."

The 19-year-old right fielder connected again in the seventh, launching a three-run blast that extended the Suns' lead to 8-1. The 2007 first-round pick has homered in three straight games, five of his last seven and leads the South Atlantic League with eight. He is batting .341 with 13 RBIs over his last 10 games.

Burgess finished sixth in the Gulf Coast League in batting last season with a .336 average, adding eight homers and 32 RBIs in 36 games before hitting .286 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 19 games for short-season Vermont. He had a career-best seven RBIs for the GCL Nationals last July 31.

Tim Pahuta went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and Jhonatan Solano chipped in three hits and a run scored for Hagerstown (11-12).

Reliever Atahualpa Severino (1-1) picked up the win, despite allowing three runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in three innings. Clint Everts gave up a run on three walks while fanning three in the ninth for his second save.

Ben Lasater went 4-for-5 and Ryan Anetsberger and Bryan Petersen drove in two runs apiece for Greensboro (12-11), which lost its fifth straight despite collecting a season-high 13 hits.

Correa (0-1) was charged with two runs on five hits over four innings.