Preview: Hock among MiLB win leaders

Today's Preview: The Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) play for a series sweep over the BlueClaws (A, Phillies) in Friday's finale of a 3-game set at First National Bank Field. Greensboro is coming off a pair of 1-run wins, including a 5-4 decision on Thursday night. In a tight Second Half race in the South Atlantic League Northern Division, the Hoppers have pulled from a fifth place spot and 2.0 games back entering July 4 to now being tied for second and a half-game out of first two games later. Today, Marlins 2017 first round pick Trevor Rogers is slated to start.
Hoppers Hurlers: Trevor Rogers, 20, makes his eighth career start and first against a Phillies affiliate. He is looking for his first win after taking three losses in his first seven starts, including in his last outing on July 1 at Hickory. That evening, he allowed three runs on six hits over a new career-long 5.0 innings, striking out four and walking two. Rogers set his career-high of six strikeouts in 3.1 innings on June 7 against Delmarva. The Marlins selected Rogers in the first round (13th overall) in the June 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Carlsbad (N.M.) High School. The 6'6" left-hander signed with Miami following a High-School All-American First Team season in 2017. He entered the season as Miami's No. 5 Prospect according to MLB.com. In his final season at Carlsbad High, he went 11-0 with a 0.33 ERA, 134 strikeouts and 13 walks while throwing three no-hitters.
About Last Night:Edward Cabrera struck out a career-high eight batters, and the Hoppers earned a win over the BlueClaws, 5-4, on Thursday. Colton Hock earned his South Atlantic League-leading ninth win, and Garvis Lara paced the Hoppers offense, going 2-4 with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. The Hoppers broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when Harrison DiNicola doubled to cash Marcos Rivera for the go-ahead run. Hock (9-3) tossed 2.1 innings and struck out four batters while walking none, but a Hoppers errors during his time on the mound resulted in a pair of inherited runners coming home. Cabrera finished with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits while fanning eight and walking two. Vincenzo Aiello tossed a scoreless ninth for his second save (7) in as many days. Down 2-0 early, Greensboro put up a pair of runs in the home half of the second. Isael Soto led off the frame with a walk, and Lara added a single to put two men on. BlueClaws starting pitcher Spencer Howard fired a wild pitch that moved both men into scoring position, and Micah Brown followed with an RBI-groundout to cash Soto. Howard's second wild pitch of the inning later brought home Lara to tie the game, 2-2. Greensboro took it's first lead in the bottom of the fourth when Lara blasted a 2-run home run (3) to right field for a 4-2 advantage. However Lakewood knotted the game in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on a Micah Brown throwing error that allowed two runs to come home. Lakewood's Luis Cedeno (0-2) took the loss, allowing a run on one hit over 2.0 innings of relief.
Hock On Top: Greensboro reliever Colton Hock (9-3, 2.77 ERA) took sole possession of the SAL lead in wins with his ninth on Thursday over the BlueClaws. He is now tied for the second-most wins in all full-season Minor League Baseball with eight other pitchers, trailing only Memphis ace Dakota Hudson who leads the Minors with 12 wins.
Wins Pitcher                        Class      League   Team                    Season Stats
12     Dakota Hudson           AAA      PCL       Memphis              12-2, 2.33, 16 G (16 GS), 77 K
9       Enyel De Los Santos   AAA      IL           Lehigh Valley      9-3, 1.89, 16 G (16 GS), 87 K
9       Donn Roach               AAA      IL           Charlotte              9-2, 2.65, 16 G (15 GS), 61 K
9       Mitch Keller                AA         EL          Altoona               9-3, 3.71, 16 G (16 GS), 89 K
9       Dylan Cease                High-A   CL         Winston-Salem     9-2, 3.13, 15 G (15 GS), 96 K
9       Wil Crowe                  High-A   CL         Potomac               9-0, 2.44, 12 G (11 GS), 60 K
9       Maverik Buffo             A           ML         Lansing               9-3, 4.26, 16 G (14 GS), 62 K
9       Nelson Hernandez       A           ML         Wisconsin           9-5, 4.57, 17 G (17 GS), 59 K
9       Tobias Myers              A           ML         Bowling Green     9-4, 4.15, 14 G (12 GS), 62 K
9       Colton Hock               A           SAL       Greensboro         9-3, 2.77, 21 G (2 GS), 52 K
Home Sweet Home: The Grasshoppers have won three straight games at First National Bank Field, dating back to the last game of the team's previous home stand on June 29. This is the third 3-game home winning streak for Greensboro this season and first since May 20 (1)-21 when they swept a doubleheader against Lakewood followed by the series opener against Kannapolis. The Hoppers last won four straight home games during the Second Half of the 2017 season when they won five home games from Aug. 4-16 by taking the last three games of a series against Kannapolis (Aug. 4, 5, and 6) and winning the first two against Delmarva (Aug. 15 and 16).
Lucky 13: Greensboro pitchers again matched the team's season-high with 13 strikeouts in a 5-4 win on Thursday over Lakewood. This marked the fifth time Grasshoppers arms fanned 13 batters in a game. The other baker's dozen dealings came April 9 vs. Augusta, May 10 at Asheville, June 5 at Delmarva, and June 29 vs. Delmarva.

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