McDougall ties stolen base record

Spike McDougall tied a South Atlantic League record with five stolen bases Saturday as the Greensboro Grasshoppers raced past the Lakewood BlueClaws, 6-2.

McDougall had just one hit but walked three times. He drew a walk and stole second in the first inning for his 19th theft of the season. In the third, he singled, stole second, took third on an error and scored on Jacob Blackwood's base hit.

The 23-year-old right fielder drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and swiped second and third before stealing second again in the seventh.

"It was pretty special," admitted McDougall, whose father traveled from California to attend the game. "My dad was in the stands and he got to see it."

It was the ninth five-steal game in SAL history and the first since Jeremy Hermida had one in 2003 for the Greensboro Bats. Among the others to accomplish the feat are Vince Coleman (1983) and Rafael Furcal (1999).

McDougall had only six steals last season, when he won New York-Penn League All-Star honors while playing for the Jamestown Jammers.

"I give myself the best chance I can," said McDougall, whose given name is Brandon. "I pick my spots and I like to steal off left-handed pitchers."

He stole four of his five bases off BlueClaws left-handed starter Sergio Escalona. The record-tying theft came against reliever Michael Dubee, a righty.

"He's a very smart base-runner," said Grasshoppers manager Edwin Rodriguez. "He took advantage of what was given to him, picked his pitches and was very aggressive."

McDougall stole third when he noticed third baseman Welison Baez had drifted away from the bag. After Blackwood fouled off a pitch and stepped out of the batter's box, McDougall began his theft before anyone noticed.

"I started walking towards third, then, when someone noticed, I took off," he said.

Greensboro (11-19) took the lead in the third when James Guerrero hit a solo homer and Adam Howard drilled a two-run shot.

Grasshoppers starter Cristhian Martinez (4-3) scattered 10 hits over seven innings and allowed two runs -- one earned -- with four strikeouts. He did not walk a batter.

Escalona (0-4) allowed six runs on eight hits and four walks with a pair of strikeouts over five innings for Lakewood (17-11).

BlueClaws catcher Joel Naughton was victimized for six steals but drove in Lakewood's first run with a sacrifice fly in the second. Fidel Hernandez scored in the fifth on a throwing error.