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SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Hoppers Win 7th Straight

July 25, 2007 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


GREENSBORO, N.C. - On a night when the promotion was "Christmas In July," complete with artificial snow, the Greensboro Grasshoppers had the appropriate pitcher - Kyle Winters.

Winters pitched seven strong innings and the Hoppers beat the Delmarva Shorebirds 2-1 Wednesday night before 6,013 fans at First Horizon Park.

It was the Greensboro's seventh straight win and fifth in this home stand. The Hoppers stopped Delmarva's four-game winning streak and raised their record to 15-19 in the second half of the South Atlantic League season.

Winters (5-1) won his third straight start and continued the recent strong effort by the staff. The Hoppers have surrendered just 10 runs during the winning streak.

The tightness of the game helped Winters stay sharp.

"It makes you buckle down and keep your head in the game," he said. "You have to focus on every pitch and keep the score where it is because there's no room for error."

Winters said his fastball and curve were working well and he also mixed in some sliders. He allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out five.

Brad Stone pitched a scoreless eighth and Blake Jones a perfect ninth to earn his 18th save and third in as many days. Manager Edwin Rodriguez said it was his decision to use Jones again, even though the closer will probably take the next two games off.

"I felt a little fatigued, but I was fine," Jones said. "I've learned how to get my body ready to pitch day after day."

Offensively, the Hoppers had eight hits and drew seven walks but stranded 11 runners.

Their first run came in the bottom of the third on an excellent at-bat by Greg Burns. He got in an 0-and-2 hole against Shorebirds starter Wilfrido Perez, fouled off some pitches, worked the count to 3-and-2 and then ripped his fifth home run of the season over the right field fence.

That tied the game 1-1 and things stayed that way until the sixth, when the Hoppers manufactured a run without a hit. Spike McDougall drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a groundout by Logan Morrison and scored on Jake Blackwood's sacrifice fly.

"If you're going to win close games, you have to get those kinds of runs," Rodriguez said.

The Hoppers also continued their excellent defense of late. In the seventh inning, right fielder Scott Cousins made a nice catch of a fly ball tailing away from him on the warning track. Later in the inning, Delmarva's Miguel Abreu tried to go from first to third on a single by Paul Winterling, but was out after a bullet throw from Cousins to Blackwood.

The second game in the series will be played Thursday at 7 p.m. in First Horizon.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 25, 2007


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