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SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Preview: Lillie to Face Lakewood

May 31, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS (MIA), 23-27

at LAKEWOOD BLUECLAWS (PHI), 31-21

Thursday - 6:35 p.m.

FirstEnergy Park - Lakewood, N.J.

Games #51 of 139

RH Ryan Lillie (3-1, 2.66) vs. LH Kyle Young (1-1, 1.64)

Today's Preview: The Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) play to avoid a series sweep and third straight loss in Thursday's series finale against the BlueClaws (A, Phillies) at FirstEnergy Park. Ryan Lillie toes the rubber for Greensboro against lefty Kyle Young in the final game of May. The Hoppers look to turn the page on a tough month by ending on a high note after going 10-18 through the first 30 days of May.

Hoppers Hurlers: Ryan Lillie, 22, makes his 10th start of the season and first against the BlueClaws. He is coming off a complete-game shutout May 26 at Hagerstown in Game 1 of a doubleheader, throwing a 2-hit shutout while striking out four over 7.0 innings. Lillie has now thrown 7.0 scoreless innings in two of his last three starts, including a win against Augusta on May 12. One of his best start of the year came April 19 vs. Charleston with 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out eight in an eventual Hoppers win. That day, he faced the minimum through 6.2 innings, inducing three double plays behind him. Lillie made his professional debut in 2017 going 0-5 with a 3.79 ERA (15 ER/35.2 IP) and 34 strikeouts in 12 games (seven starts) across three classifications - the GCL Marlins, Short-Season Batavia, and Greensboro. The Marlins selected Lille in the fifth round of the June 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of UC-Riverside - the highest-drafted Highlander since 2011. In three years at UCR, he went 6-13 with a 4.50 ERA (63 ER/126.0 IP) and 137 strikeouts in 62 games (10 starts).

Wednesday's Recap: Edward Cabrera made a strong start but was out-dueled as Will Stewart threw a complete-game shutout as the BlueClaws blanked the Grasshoppers, 3-0, on Wednesday. Stewart (5-0) fanned 10, walking none, and limiting the Grasshoppers to three hits in 9.0 innings. Lakewood plated two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Quincy Nieporte singled with one out, and Daniel Brito followed with a double to put runners in scoring position. Gregori Rivero followed with an RBI-groundout, and Josh Stephen added a run-scoring single for a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Jake Scheiner added an RBI-double, scoring Kevin Markham from first base for the final run of the game.

Cabrera's Command: Edward Cabrera (1-5) suffered a hard-luck loss, allowing two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings on Wednesday in Lakewood. The right-hander struck out two and walked one while matching the longest outing of his season and career. Cabrera's only other 7.0-inning outing came May 20 against Lakewood when he spun a complete game in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

Sally League Shutouts: Will Stewart joined Hoppers Edward Cabrera and Ryan Lillie as well as Charleston's Dalton Lehnen as the only four pitchers in the South Atlantic League to have thrown complete-game shutouts in 2018. Stewart and Lehnen each threw 9-inning gems, while the two Greensboro starters accomplished the feats in 7-inning games.

Make It Quick: Wednesday's game in Lakewood lasted 2:04, one of the quickest 9-inning games the Hoppers have played this season.

Alonso in the Clutch: Hoppers first baseman Lazaro Alonso continues to impress at the plate when batting with runners in scoring position and two outs, batting .538 (7-13) with three doubles, a home run, and 10 RBI in those instances. The slugger is batting .444 (12-27) with runners in scoring position in general. As a team, the Grasshoppers as a team are batting .255 in RISP and two outs.

Devers' Streak Snapped: Jose Devers, who entered Tuesday on an 11-game hitting streak dating back to May 19, finished hitless, snapping both his hitting streak as well as his 15-game on-base streak. Devers entered Tuesday with the third-longest active hitting streak in the South Atlantic League. From May 19-28, Devers hit safely in 11 games with a .444 average (16-36) along with two RBI and two doubles during the streak, the longest this season by a Hoppers hitters. He joined Jhonny Santos (10 games, May 2-13) as the only Grasshoppers with double-digit hit streaks this season.

Check out the Greensboro Grasshoppers Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from May 31, 2018


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