Aaron Shackelford, Blake Sabol hit homers as Hoppers cut magic number to 5

LAKEWOOD, N.J. ― Aaron Shackelford hit his 22nd home run of the season, a grand slam in the second inning as the Greensboro Grasshoppers jumped on the Jersey Shore BlueClaws early en route to a 13-4 victory Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Field.

Shackelford has homered in back-to-back games, and he ranks second in the High-A East in home runs, one behind Rome's Jesse Franklin. Shackelford went 1-for-2 with three walks and four RBIs.

Blake Sabol hit a three-run homer ― his 10th of the season ― and an RBI double for the Hoppers, who cut their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to five.

Greensboro (71-39) trails first-place Bowling Green (75-34) by 4 1/2 games in the South Division standings. The Hot Rods' game at Winston-Salem was postponed Wednesday and will be made up as part of a doubleheader during this series.

With 10 games left in the regular season, the Hoppers lead North Division leader Hudson Valley (65-45) by six games in the race for the second-best record in the High-A East. Hudson Valley was swept in a doubleheader Wednesday, losing twice to last-place Brooklyn.

Any combination of Hoppers wins or Renegades losses adding up to five will clinch a playoff spot for Greensboro. The Grasshoppers close the regular season on the road next week with six head-to-head games against Hudson Valley in Wappingers Falls, near Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

The two teams with the best records ― regardless of division ― qualify for the High-A East's best-of-five championship series. The playoffs begin with two games at the lower seed's home park Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21 and 22. Thursday is a travel day to the top seed's ballpark, with games Sept. 24, 25 and 26 if necessary.

The Hoppers built an 11-2 lead on Jersey Shore through two innings Wednesday.

The top of the order produced for Greensboro. Andres Alvarez and Matt Gorski both went 2-for-6 with doubles and two runs scored apiece. Alvarez's four-game home run streak was snapped, but Alvarez extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Lolo Sanchez and Will Matthiessen had two RBIs each for the Hoppers.

Ace right-hander Quinn Priester, who is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No.2 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run in four innings of work.

Garrett Leonard (3-2, 6.21 ERA) struck out four in two innings to pick up the win in relief. Austin Roberts struck out four in three scoreless innings to notch his eighth save.

The Hoppers have won 12 of their last 15 games.

Notes

• Second baseman Nick Gonzales, the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft and a player ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Pirates' No. 4 prospect, sat out Wednesday. Gonzales was the High-A East's player of the month in August. He went on the injured list with a broken finger in May, and he was batting just .214 on July 15. In the 42 games since then, Gonzales has raised his batting average to .303 by hitting .361 (65-for-180) with 14 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs.
• The Hoppers are playing their 19th six-game series of the season. They have won or split 17 of 18 series so far. Since splitting their first five series of the season, the Grasshoppers are 56-24 (.700 win percentage).
• Shortstop Liover Peguero, the Pirates' No. 5 prospect, hasn't played since leaving Thursday night's game after apparently twisting an ankle on the first-base bag while beating out an infield single. Andres Alvarez replaced Peguero in that game and has started the five games since then. In those five starts, Alvarez is 10-for-25 (.400) with four home runs, two double, six RBIs and eight runs scored. Alvarez, a part-time player, is on a 10-game hitting streak dating back to Aug. 15. He's 18-for-42 (.428) during the streak.
• Third baseman Jared Triolo leads the High-A East with 118 hits, and he ranks second with 74 RBIs and a .306 batting average. Triolo was batting just .217 on June 2, but in 77 games since then he has batted .330 with 23 doubles, 12 home runs, 59 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
• In his last 11 games, catcher/DH Blake Sabol is 17-for-46 (.370) with four home runs, three doubles, 12 runs scored and 14 RBIs.
• Center fielder Jonah Davis was sent down from Class-AA Altoona on Aug. 5 and went just 2-for-25 in his first eight games. But in 17 games since then, Davis is 17-for-53 (.321) with six home runs, three doubles, 10 walks and 16 RBIs.
• Left fielder Lolo Sanchez leads the league with 29 stolen bases and 53 walks. In his last 24 games, Sanchez has batted .337 (30-for-89) with 24 runs scored.
• Right fielder Matt Gorski was batting just .201 on July 25, but in 26 games since then he has raised his average 34 points by going 32-for-103 (.311) with eight doubles and six home runs.