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SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Greensboro Game Notes: April 22

April 22, 2008 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


Today's Game

Greensboro Grasshoppers (12-6)

vs. Kannapolis Intimidators (8-10)

Starting Pitchers

RHP Stuart Alexander (3-0, 4.20)

vs. RHP Johnnie Lowe (0-3, 9.49)

Quick Stats

GBO Team Batting Average: .242 (10th)

GBO Team ERA: 3.22 (3rd)

KAN Team Batting Average: .217 (16th)

KAN Team ERA: 3.92 (10th)

Game Information

Start Time: 7:00 p.m.

Ballpark: NewBridge Bank Park (4,700)

Location: Greensboro, N.C.

At the Corner of Eugene & Bellemeade: This season the Grasshoppers have compiled a 5-3 home record and are hosting Kannapolis in the series-opener of quick two-game set at NewBridge Bank Park... Tonight's starting pitcher, Stuart Alexander, is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in his lone start at home this season... At home, the Grasshoppers have a .251 team batting average and a 3.25 team ERA... The Hoppers are currently on a two-game win streak at home as they finished an eight-game homestand winning two straight against Asheville and out-scoring the Tourists 15-4 in those two victories... Tonight opens a six-game homestand that features two games against Kannapolis and a four-game set that will see Hagerstown visit NewBridge Bank Park for the only time this season.

Series Insight: Greensboro is currently riding a season-best three-game win streak that includes two straight on the road against Kannapolis... The Hoppers and Intimidators squared off just two days ago as Greensboro recorded its sixth come-from-behind victory and second win in as many nights over Kannapolis... Greensboro leads the all-time series 25-21 and has out-scored the Intimidators 256-216 in those 46 games... At NewBridge Bank Park, the Hoppers hold a 16-7 advantage over Kannapolis and have won 12 of their last 15 games against the Intimidators at home... Currently, the Hoppers are on a two-game home losing streak against Kannapolis as the Intimidators swept a two-game set at NewBridge Bank Park Aug. 30-31, 2007... Last season the Hoppers were 9-11 in games against Kannapolis and dropped nine of their final 10 games against the Intimidators.

Best Start: A win tonight would give the Hoppers at least a tie for the best start in franchise history... Currently the Hoppers are 12-6 and had their best start through 20 games last season when they posted a 13-7 record... Through 20 games, Greensboro posted an 11-9 record in both 2005 and 2006.

Player Notes: INF Ben Lasater leads the South Atlantic League in runs batted in entering tonight's game against Kannapolis... Lasater's name also appears on SAL leader board with the second-most home runs (5) and the second-best slugging percentage (.667)... OF Bryan Petersen enters tonight's game tied for the league-lead with 15 runs scored... Petersen's 15 runs have come in 14 games this season... He is currently tied with Charleston's Carmen Angelini (18 games) and Jesus Montero (18 games)... Greensboro closer Garrett Parcell is tied with Charleston's Jonathan Ortiz and Asheville's Randall Taylor for the league-lead with a team-high five saves this season... Parcell has recorded a save in each of his last three appearance.

Team Insider: Greensboro's pitching staff currently has the league's third-lowest ERA (3.22)... The pitching staff has a recorded a league-best nine saves and has walked just 32 batters, the fewest by a South Atlantic League pitching staff this season... At the plate, Greensboro has the league's 10th-best batting average (.242)... In the field, the Hoppers are tied with Lexington for the most errors committed this season... Greensboro has committed 31 errors through its first 18 games... The Hoppers opened the season committing at least one error in 11 of their first 12 games.

This Day in Hoppers History: The Hoppers are looking to keep their perfect April 22 record (3-0) alive tonight as they look to build on their season-best three-game win streak... In 2005 the Hoppers went on the road and defeated Asheville 13-8... The past two seasons Greensboro has been at home on April 22 and the Hoppers have recorded a 10-4 win over Hickory and a 16-6 victory over Lexinton in 2006 and 2007, respectively... All three wins have come by the Hoppers scoring double-digit runs... The Hoppers are currently averaging 13 runs a game in April 22 matches and their opponents are averaging six runs a game.

Streaky Business: As a team, the Hoppers are riding their second three-game win streak of the season and are looking to add to their season-best win streak tonight against the Kannapolis Intimidators... Individually, OF Mike Stanton's 11-game hitting streak that began on April 6 and ended on April 16 is Greensboro's longest hit streak this season... Currently Ryan Anetsberger, Ryan Curry and Danny Garcia are on four-game hit streaks, the longest active hitting streaks on the team... Stanton returns to NewBridge Bank Park tonight with a seven-game home hit streak, having hit safely in all seven games he's played at home 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.

Franchise Record: The Grasshoppers have held their franchise record at .500 or better for five straight days... After failing to move above the .500 mark early in the season on multiple occasions, the Greensboro Grasshoppers finally picked up the win that puts them above .500 as a franchise... The Hoppers had gone back and forth between being one-game below and right at .500 until their April 14 win over Asheville... Greensboro now has a 218-215 franchise record... The Hoppers entered the season with a 206-208 and have recorded season records of 67-71 (2005), 68-69 (2006), 71-69 (2007) and are 12-6 this year.

Up Next: Following a two-game set with Kannapolis, the Hoppers round out their six-game homestand with a four-game series against Hagerstown... All-time the Hoppers are 18-6 against Hagerstown... After dropping its first two meetings against the Suns, Greensboro has won 18 of their last 22 games against Hagerstown... Last season the Grasshoppers posted a 5-2 record against Hagerstown including a 2-1 mark at home... The last time Greensboro and Hagerstown played, Aug. 16-19, 2007, the Hoppers took 3-of-4 games on the road including a 10-inning series-opening affair that saw Greensboro win 6-5.

Tonight's Starter: Stuart Alexander (3-0, 4.20) is making his fourth start of the season tonight... Alexander has won all three of his starts this season and is one win shy of the league-leader in wins... He has lasted 5.0 innings in all three of his starts and has not allowed more than three earned runs... Alexander has allowed just two runs in each of his last two appearances and has struck out 11 batters during that stretch... Alexander is strong early, not allowing a single earned run in either the first of the second inning this season... He his holding left-handed batters to a .250 average and right-handers are having an even tougher time against him, batting just .171 against Alexander this season.

2007 Recap: Alexander did not play in 2007.

Career Notes: Alexander has struggled up until this point in his young career... In 2006, the last season he played, Alexander was coming back from missing the 2005 season due to injury... He posted a combined 0-7 record in 13 starts while splitting time between the Gulf Coast League Marlins and Jamestown of the New York Penn League... Signed as a non-drafted free agent on June 16, 2004, Alexander played with the GCL Marlins and Jamestown during the 2004 season before sitting out 2005.

Downtown GBO: Alexander is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in his lone game at NewBridge Bank Park this season... He appeared at home on April 11 and went 4.0 innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits and struck out a season-high seven batters.

- Alexander's 2008 Starts: 3-0, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 HR, 6 BB, 12 SO

- Alexander's Last Win: April 16, 2008 @ Greenville (7-2 over Eammon Portice)

- Alexander's Last Loss: August 22, 2006 vs. Mahoning Valley (13-3 to Michael Eisenberg)

- Alexander's Last Complete Game: None

- Alexander's Career High Strikeouts: 8 (July 10, 2004 vs. GCL Dodgers)

Check out the Greensboro Grasshoppers Statistics

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