SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Greensboro Game Notes

Published on May 12, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


Today's Game

Greensboro Grasshoppers (19-17)

vs. Lakewood BlueClaws (19-17)

Starting Pitchers

RHP Brett Durand (4-1, 6.00)

vs. RHP Julian Sampson (2-1, 6.12)

Quick Stats

GBO Team Batting Average: .243 (14th)

GBO Team ERA: 4.07 (10th)

LAK Team Batting Average: .254 (7th)

LAK Team ERA: 3.32 (4th)

Game Information

Start Time: 7:00 p.m.

Ballpark: NewBridge Bank Park (7,599)

Location: Greensboro, N.C.

Tonight's Game: Is the Game 1 of a four-game series against Lakewood and the fifth game of Greensboro's current eight-game homestand... The Hoppers are currently 1-3 during their homestand.

Finishing Touches: It wasn't the prettiest of wins this season, but RHP Cristhian Martinez proved to be a tough competitor and improved to 4-1... The win was Martinez's third series finale victory and brought an end to Greensboro's nine-game home losing streak.

Back-to-Back: Greensboro's Bryan Petersen and Ryan Curry led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back home runs Sunday... It was the second time this season the Hoppers have hit back-to-back homers and the first time this season Greensboro has led off the game with a blast.

Game-Winner: With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning Sunday, LF Tom Hickman stepped to the plate and hit just his fifth double of the season to clear the bases and give Greensboro a lead the Hoppers would not relinquish.

Who's on First: A fourth-inning base on balls in Sunday's 8-6 victory over Lake County extended LF Tom Hickman's consecutive games on-base streak to 17 games... Hickman's 17-game on-base streak is the third longest active streak in the South Atlantic League; Augusta's Brock Bond has the longest active streak at 19... During his current on-base streak, Hickman is batting .200 (10-for-50) with a .446 on-base percentage... He has also been walked 20 times... Hickman's current streak includes 12 consecutive games on base at home.

Wizard of OZ: Hoppers' SS Ozzie Martinez continues to tear through the South Atlantic League and has seen his batting average rise to .366, 60 points higher than the already-respectable .306 average he posted in April... His current average would rank him fourth in the league if he met the 2.7 PA/team game minimum and would be the best batting average by a right-handed batter... In his last 5 games, Martinez leads the team with his .500 (5-for-10) average.

Extra Bases: RF Mike Stanton hit his 10th double of the season Saturday to up his extra-base hits total to 17... Stanton's 17 extra-base hits are tied for fourth most in the South Atlantic League with Charleston's Jesus Montero... Stanton went 2-for-3 in the game to collect his team-leading 12th multiple-hit game of the season as well.

This is Series-ous Business: Greensboro continues its current eight-game homestand with a four-game series against Lakewood... The Hoppers are 16-12 all-time when facing the BlueClaws despite being out-scored 120-115... At home, Greensboro holds an 8-4 record against Lakewood... The last time Lakewood visited NewBridge Bank Park, July 21-24, 2007, the Hoppers snatched all four games for a series sweep.

Tie Breaker: Entering tonight's game Greensboro and Lakewood are both 19-17, tied for third place in the South Atlantic League Northern Division; both trail division-leading Lake County by three games... Eight of Greensboro's next 12 games will be against the BlueClaws as the Hoppers make a trip Lakewood May 20-24 in the second half of an eight-game road trip.

It's a Green Thing: Only two teams in the South Atlantic League have managed to post losing records at home and have still managed to have a winning record as a whole... Greensboro is 6-12 at home this season and has not fallen under the .500 mark overall thanks to a 13-5 (.722) record on the road... The other team to accomplish such a feat: Greenville... The Drive are 9-13 at home and 20-17 overall because of a 11-4 road record.

Leading Off: SS Ozzie Martinez generally bats in the ninth spot on manager Edwin Rodriguez's lineup, but his numbers are campaigning for the leadoff position... Martinez leads the team with his .571 (8-for-14) batting average when leading off an inning and his average is over 200 points higher than the next closest teammate, Ryan Anetsberger, who is batting .323 (10-for-31) when leading off.

Forgettable: RHP Kyle Kaminska made his 2008 debut Saturday in front of 7,406 fans at NewBridge Bank Park... Kaminska offered Lake County an extended batting practice session as the Captains tagged the righty with 11 hits and seven runs, six earned, in just 4 2/3 innings of work... It was the most hits allowed by a Hoppers pitcher this season and the Captains ended the session with 17 hits on the night; the most allowed by the Greensboro pitching staff all year.

Brought to an End: OF Bryan Petersen was retired in all four at-bats Saturday bringing an end to his home on-base streak... Petersen had reached base in all 15 home game he played this season until going 0-for-4 at the plate Saturday... His streak is fourth-longest home on-base streak this season in the South Atlantic League.

5-Hit History: For just the fourth time in Grasshoppers history an opponent collected five hits in a single game... Lake County's Chris Nash went 5-for-5 from the plate Friday and fell just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle... Greensboro had allowed just three, 5-hit games in 448 games since becoming the Grasshoppers in 2005... Evan Tierce was the first to collect five hits against the Hoppers; he did so by going 5-for-5 on July 4, 2005 while playing for Charleston... Brandon Allen (Kannapolis) and Emmanuel Burriss (Augusta) both went 5-for-6 in their respective June 16 and June 22 games against Greensboro last season... Allen is now playing in neighboring Winston-Salem with the Warthogs; Burriss began the 2008 season at Triple-A Fresno before making his Major League debut on April 21.

Up Next: Greensboro hits the road for an eight-game road trip through Delmarva and Lakewood beginning May 16... The Hoppers first head to Delmarva to face the Shorebirds... Greensboro is 15-8 against Delmarva all-time and both teams have scored exactly 105 runs... On the road, the Hoppers are 8-4 against the Shorebirds.

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.

Tonight's Starter: Brett Durand (4-1, 6.00)

Brett Durand is making his sixth start of the season tonight... After joining the squad on April 8, Durand made a start that same night and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings to pick up his first win of the season... In his second start, Durand struck out a season-high six batters, one shy of his career high, and recorded the first quality start, 6.0 innings pitched and two earned runs, of his career... Durand struggled during the course of his next two outings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits in each appearance while not factoring in either decision, but got back on track with a 5.0 inning performance in which he allowed just one earned run against division-leading Lake County... Durand appeared on May 5 against Hagerstown out of the bullpen in 3.0 innings of work for the Hoppers; he earned his fourth win of the season in that outing... The last time Durand took the field he gave up two home runs and allowed five run on four hits in 1.0 inning of work before being lifted from the game; it resulted in his first loss of the season.

2007 Recap: In his first professional season, Durand threw just 35.1 innings and picked up a 1-2 record while pitching for the Gulf Coast League Marlins... He saw action in nine games, starting seven and finishing one, and struck out 36 batters... Entering the season, his longest outing was 5.0 innings, which he did on three occasions.

Career Notes: Was drafted in the 11th round of the 2007 First Year Draft and pitched for the Gulf Coast League Marlins... He earned his first professional victory on Aug. 15, 2007 while playing on the road against the GCL Cardinals... In his first victory, Durand tossed 4.0 scoreless innings of relief and struck out six batters.

Downtown GBO: Durand is 2-1 with a 6.35 ERA in four starts at NewBridge Bank Park this season... In 17.0 innings of work, Durand has struck out 13 batters and opponents are hitting .257 off of him at home.

- Durand's 2008 Starts: 3-1, 6.00 ER, 6 G, 27.0 IP, 31 H, 20 R, 18 ER, 8 HR, 6 BB, 18 K

- Durand's Last Win: May 5, 2008 @ Hagerstown (14-7 over Brad Peacock)

- Durand's Last Loss: May 8, 2008 vs. Lake County (4-5 to Josh Judy)

- Durand's Last Complete Game: None

- Durand's Career High Strikeouts: 7 (August 21, 2007 vs. GCL Dodgers)

Check out the Greensboro Grasshoppers Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 12, 2008


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