Hoppers hit 2 sets of back-to-back HRs in loss

Dariel Lopez extends hitting streak to 14 games and hits two solo shots to take team lead with 18 homers

Greensboro's Dariel Lopez rounds third base after hitting his second home run of the game Sunday, his team-leading 18th homer of the season. (Kaylen Ayres/contributed photo)

By Jeff Mills

August 1, 2022

GREENSBORO ― Dariel Lopez went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs to take over the Grasshoppers’ team lead, but Winston-Salem defeated Greensboro 8-4 at First National Bank Field in Sunday afternoon’s series finale. The Hoppers won the series 4-2, but the Dash’s victory Sunday evened the season-long “Battle of I-40”

GREENSBORO ― Dariel Lopez went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs to take over the Grasshoppers’ team lead, but Winston-Salem defeated Greensboro 8-4 at First National Bank Field in Sunday afternoon’s series finale.

The Hoppers won the series 4-2, but the Dash’s victory Sunday evened the season-long “Battle of I-40” rivalry at 9-9. Greensboro has won five of the last seven games between the two, but Winston-Salem is 5-2 in one-run games.

Lopez hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season, passing Matt Gorski (who was promoted to Class-AA Altoona back on May 24) for the team lead. Lopez, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games, ranks third in the South Atlantic League in home runs behind Greenville’s Nicholas Northcut (26) and Rome’s Landon Stephens (19).

All four Hoppers runs came on solo homers, as Greensboro twice hit back-to-back home runs.

Winning pitcher Tommy Sommer (1-1) retired the first nine Hoppers in a row before Francisco Acuña and Lopez hit back-to-back homers to left field in the fourth inning.

Lopez and Abrahan Gutierrez hit back-to-back shots in the sixth inning to cut Winston-Salem’s lead to 5-4.

But Winston-Salem’s Bryan Ramos hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot, in the top of the ninth inning to put the game out of reach.

Hoppers starter Nick Garcia (3-3) took the loss. The right-hander cruised through the first three innings, allowing only Ramos’ solo home run. But Garcia couldn’t get out of the fourth, walking two batters before Greensboro native Alsander Womack hit a three-run homer that narrowly cleared the fence in right-center field.

Greensboro first baseman Jacob Gonzalez catches a throw to force out Winston-Salem's Duke Ellis on a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning SundayKaylen Ayres/contributed photo

NOTES

Third baseman Dariel Lopez, 20, has hit safely in 27 of his last 28 games. He got off to a slow start this season, batting .179 with one homer in April. But in the 67 games since May 1, Lopez is batting .307 (81-for-264) with 17 home runs, 12 doubles and 39 RBIs.
In the nine games since the All-Star break, Endy Rodriguez is 14-for-30 (.467) with six home runs, 10 walks, 14 runs scored and 11 RBIs, raising his season batting average to .295. Rodriguez walked twice Sunday to extend his on-base streak to 27 consecutive games. The versatile 22-year-old is rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 6 prospect, and he has played four positions ― catcher, first base, second base and left field ― this season.
Sunday’s starter Nick Garcia ranks seventh among qualifiers in the South Atlantic League with a 4.01 ERA. Garcia, who has pitched in 19 games with 17 starts, is one of two pitchers in the league to throw a complete-game shutout this season. He has struck out 81 in 83 innings, and he has held opponents to a .218 batting average.

In his career at the News & Record, journalist Jeff Mills won 10 national and 12 state writing awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, and the N.C. Press Association.