IronBirds' pitchers strike out 19 in win over Hoppers

GREENSBORO ― Winning pitcher Ignacio Feliz struck out 10 batters in four innings of relief, and three Aberdeen pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts as the IronBirds defeated the Greensboro Grasshoppers 5-4 at First National Bank Field on Wednesday night.

Feliz (1-0), a hard-throwing right-hander whose fastball consistently clocked 94-96 mph, won in relief of starter Jean Pinto, who struck out eight in four innings. Xavier Moore struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning for his second save.

Hoppers right fielder Jack Herman went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs scored. Maikol Escotto hit his team-leading fourth homer, a two-run shot in the third inning after Herman had reached on bad-hop base hit.

Herman's home run, a solo shot off Feliz in the seventh inning, jumped off the bat with a 104 mph exit velocity and landed 396 feet away in left-center field ― not far from the dogs and owners gathered for Bark In The Park night.

Greensboro starter Adrian Florencio (0-2) deserved better. He pitched five solid innings, but got nicked for a pair of unearned runs when a two-out error set the table for Coby Mayo's two-run home run. Another run scored on a misjudged fly ball that fell for a two-out RBI double.

Florencio walked one and struck out five, but left on the short end of a 4-3 score and the Hoppers couldn't regain the lead.

Matt Gorski went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored. Top prospect Henry Davis hit an RBI single.

The Hoppers (4-7) fell four games behind the division-leading IronBirds (8-3) in the South Atlantic League North standings.

Despite the poor start, Greensboro has been competitive.

The Grasshoppers rank second in the 12-team South Atlantic League with an .809 OPS and 16 home runs, and they are third in both team batting average (.265) and runs scored (6.3 per game). They've outscored their opponents 69-68 so far.

But with Wednesday's loss, the Hoppers fell to 1-5 in one-run games. Six of their seven losses have been by two or fewer runs.

The pitching staff has posted a 5.18 ERA and leads the league with 68 walks (6.2 per game) and 13 hit-by-pitches.

NOTES: Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's amateur draft, has reached base in eight of the 10 games he's played this season. Davis has been hit by pitches five times in those 10 games, including the last three games in a row. ... Endy Rodriguez ― a versatile player who has played first base, second base, left field and catcher ― is the only Hopper to play in all 11 games so far this season and is 13-for-46 (.283) with five multi-hit games. The 21-year-old Rodriguez is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 7 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system. ... Matt Gorski has hit safely in four consecutive games and six of his last seven.