SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Greensboro Grasshoppers Game Notes 4/29

Published on April 29, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


Today's Game

Greensboro Grasshoppers (12-11)

@ Lake County Captains (15-8)

Starting Pitchers

RHP Colby Miller (0-4, 4.37)

vs. LHP Ryan Morris (3-0, 1.23)

Quick Stats

GBO Team Batting Average: .238 (13th)

GBO Team ERA: 3.66 (7th)

LCO Team Batting Average: .248 (8th)

LCO Team ERA: 2.66 (2nd)

Game Information

Start Time: 7:05 p.m.

Ballpark: Classic Park (7,273)

Location: Eastlake, Ohio

Road Work Resume: Greensboro is currently on a three-game road winning streak and has posted the franchise's best road record to begin a season at 7-3... OF Bryan Petersen has paced the way for the Grasshoppers with his .300 batting average away from home and has scored a team-high seven road runs... INF Ryan Anetsberger has a team-high, 10 hits and INF Ben Lasater leads the way with eight runs batted in, including two of Greensboro's three home runs while on the road... As a team, the Hoppers have a .235 batting average and a 3.19 ERA... Greensboro opened the season by taking three-of-four games from Augusta on the road, and followed with a 4-2 road trip in which they split a four-game series in Greenville and swept a two-game set in Kannapolis... Prior to this season, Greensboro's best road start came in 2005 when the Hoppers posted a 6-4 mark through their first 10 road games.

Series Insight: Greensboro and Lake County are playing for the 24th time tonight with the Hoppers holding a one-game lead in the all-time series, 12-11... Tonight's game is the first of 12 between the two teams this season and the first of eight in Eastlake, Ohio... On the road, the Hoppers have a 6-5 record against the Captains and last visited Classic Park for four games on July 17-20, 2007... Greensboro dropped the first two games of the four-game series, but recovered to take the final two game by shutting out Lake County 3-0 and 2-0, respectively... Tonight's game marks the first time the Hoppers have visited Classic Park in April... The only time these two teams have played in April came last season when the Hoppers and Captains played a four-game set in Greensboro on April 9-12; Greensboro won the series three games to one.

Last Time Out: The Hoppers trailed, 0-2, entering the bottom of the fifth inning and scored two runs by means of two walks and two hits, including a two-run single by 2B Danny Garcia.. The game was then suspended and will be resumed on May 4 when the Grasshoppers visit Hagerstown... The scheduled four-game series against Hagerstown was the only trip to NewBridge Bank Park for the Suns this season.

Losing Daze: A recent five-game losing streak has sent the Hoppers from the top of the SAL Northern Division to three games back of first place Lake County... During the current five-game skid, the Hoppers are batting .224 (43-of-192) and the pitching staff has a 5.22 ERA; the opposition has a .280 batting average with a 3.24 ERA during that same span.

Living Large: Listed at 5 foot, 10 inches, Ozzie Martinez is the second smallest guy on the Greensboro roster; however, his recent work at the plate tells a much taller tale... Martinez leads the Hoppers over the course of the team's last 10 games with his .400 (8-for-20) batting average and has stepped his game up even more with a .455 (5-for-11) batting average in Greensboro's last five games... Martinez's .455 average over the course of Greensboro's last five games is the sixth best average in the South Atlantic League over that same time span... Lexington's Matthew Cusick, also listed at 5-10, has hit for a .550 average during the Legend's last five games to lead the league.

Fine-point Pen: Right-handed reliever A.J. Battisto joined the Hoppers just two days after Opening Day and has proven that the bump up was much deserved... After allowing a run in his first outing of the season, Battisto has tossed 12.1 innings of shut out baseball... The lone run surrendered in his April 6 outing against Augusta is the only run he has allowed this season... Battisto currently sports Greensboro's lowest ERA at 0.63... RHP Corey Madden also hails from the Hoppers pen and has not allowed a run in his last five appearances (6.0 ip), but more impressive is his team-leading, 21 strikeouts in just 14.0 innings of work; Stuart Alexander also has 21 strikeouts (24.1 ip)... Madden has struck out 11 batters in his last five appearances and has struck out multiple batters in all but one of his appearances this season.

Streaky Business: CF Bryan Petersen has currently reached base in all 13 home Hopper games this season; his home 13-game on-base streak is the longest active home on-base streak in the South Atlantic League this season... INF Danny Garcia has an eight-game hit streak on the road dating back to last season (9/2/07)... Garcia has hit safely in all six road games that he has seen action in so far this year.

Player Notes: INF Ben Lasater currently has the South Atlantic League's second-most runs batted in (19); his 19 RBI are tied for the most by a right-handed batter this season... Lasater's name also appears on SAL leader board with the third-most home runs (6)... OF Bryan Petersen enters tonight's game tied for fourth in the SAL with 18 runs scored... Greensboro closer Garrett Parcell is tied for the third-most saves in the SAL with a team-high five saves this season.

Team Insider: Greensboro's pitching staff currently has the league's seventh-lowest ERA (3.66)... The pitching staff has recorded nine saves and has walked just 49 batters, the fewest walks by a South Atlantic League pitching staff this season... At the plate, Greensboro has the league's fourth-lowest batting average (.238)... In the field, the Hoppers have committed the third-most errors in the league with 44 through the first 24 games.

This Day in Hoppers History: An already disappointing five-game losing streak looks bleak enough for the Hoppers who are 0-2 on the road in April 29 games... In 2006, Greensboro dropped its April 27 game, 0-2, in seven innings at West Virginia... Last season the Hoppers again lost on the road, dropping a 6-5 game in Hickory.

E -- Insert Position Here: After opening the season by committing 25 errors in their first 10 games, the Hoppers had appeared to settle in and somewhat control the massive error attacks... That is until this current homestand which was already blemished with a five-game losing streak... During the last homestand, Greensboro committed 13 errors including four in the homestand-opener against Kannapolis and six in Friday's 9-5 loss to Hagerstown... Of Greensboro's 13 errors, five of them have come from shortstop Ozzie Martinez, who has now committed a team-high eight errors... On the season, the Hoppers have committed the league's third-most errors, 44, and are averaging just fewer than two errors a game... Greensboro has had just five errorless games this season.

Top Prospects: The Marlins' top pick in the 2007 draft (12th overall), Matt Dominguez, is the highest touted third-baseman on the Marlins' prospect list printed in Baseball America and enters his first full season of professional baseball after playing five games with the Gulf Coast Marlins and 10 games with Jamestown... In the same article, Dominguez was named the Marlins' best Minor League defensive infielder... Mike Stanton, the Marlins' second draftee in the 2007 draft, also split time between the Gulf Coast Marlins (8 games) and Jamestown (9 games) last season... Entering the season, Stanton ranks ninth on Baseball America's top 10 prospects for the Marlins and was tabbed the organization's best power hitter and best athlete in the minors.

Up Next: Following a four-game set with Lake County, the Hoppers head to Hagerstown where they will finish their suspended game from April 27 and play a four-game series at Municipal Stadium... Hagerstown took three straight games from Greensboro in their last meeting less than a week ago, but the Hoppers still lead the all-time series, 18-9... Since changing is nickname to the Grasshoppers in 2005, Greensboro has posted an 8-4 record at Municipal Stadium... The Hoppers' took three-of-four games from Hagerstown the last time they visited the Suns and are currently on a two-game win streak at Municipal Stadium.

Tonight's Starter: RHP Colby Miller (0-4, 4.37) is making his sixth appearance of the season tonight and his fifth start... Miller made a brief 1.0 inning relief appearance in the Hoppers' second game of the season on the road in Augusta and has made four starts since... Miller started Greensboro's home-opener on April 7 and lasted 5.0 innings in which he surrendered four runs, three earned, on six hits while striking out five batters... In his second start, Miller gave up two home runs in his 4.0 inning performance while again giving up four runs, all earned, on six hits... Since, he has allowed just two runs in each of his last two starts, including a 7.0 inning performance in his last outing.

2007 Recap: Pitching for Shreveport of the Independent American Association, Miller posted a 6-9 record with a 3.18 ERA in 20 games... Miller pitched five complete games and tossed 10.0 innings on Aug. 17 against Pensacola... Of his five complete games, three where complete game shutouts... His three complete game shutouts came on: June 24 in Game 2 of a double-header against Fort Worth, July 25 at Sioux Falls and August 22 against El Paso... Over the course of the season he twice threw back-to-back complete games... On May 27 he struck out a season-high nine (9) batters on the road against Pensacola in just 6.0 innings of work...

Career Notes: Miller is in his ninth professional season and returns to affiliated ball after pitching for Shreveport of the Independent American Association in 2007... Miller finished the 2007 season with a 6-9 record and a 3.18 ERA... Miller was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2000 and was signed by the Marlins as a free agent earlier this year... Miller reached as high as Double-A during three consecutive seasons including the entire 2004 and 2005 seasons... For his career, Miller entered the season with a 42-49 record with a 3.61 ERA and has struck out 10-plus batters on three occasions.

On the Road: Colby is making his second road start... In his lone road start to date, Miller went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out six batters... Away from NewBridge Bank Park, Miller has a 0-1 record with a 2.70 ERA... Miller has also made one relief appearance on the road.

- Miller's 2008 Starts: 0-4, 4.57 ERA, 21.2 IP, 24 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 4 HR, 5 BB, 17 K

- Miller's Last Win: August 22, 2007 vs. El Paso (8-0 over Greg Wiltshire)

- Miller's Last Loss: April 23, 2007 vs. Kannapolis (1-3 to Levi Maxwell)

- Miller's Last Complete Game: August 22, 2007 vs. El Paso (W, 8-0 over Greg Wiltshire)

- Miller's Career High Strikeouts: 12 (August 4, 2003 vs. Lakeland)

Check out the Greensboro Grasshoppers Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 29, 2008


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