Axiel Plaz's Seventh-Inning Homer Lifts Grasshoppers Past Tourists 1-0 on Opening Day

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Six innings went by at First National Bank Field on Tuesday night without a run, and it was starting to feel like the home opener might go on forever. Axiel Plaz made sure it did not. The Greensboro Grasshoppers catcher hit a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh, and five Greensboro pitchers made it stand up in a 1-0 win over the Asheville Tourists in front of 3,881 fans.

The win kept the Pittsburgh Pirates' High-A affiliate perfect at 4-0 and dropped the Houston Astros' affiliate to 1-3 in the opener of a six-game South Atlantic League series. It took one hour and 56 minutes, which is what happens when two staffs combine for 20 strikeouts and the teams combine for six hits.

Reed Sets the Tone

Carlson Reed got the start for Greensboro and was overpowering. The right-hander struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk on 64 pitches, according to the official box score. Asheville's lone threat against him came in the second, when Jason Schiavone lined a double to left and later moved to third on a wild pitch, but Reed struck out Max Holy and got two fly balls to strand him.

Asheville starter Luis Rodriguez matched him. He threw four scoreless innings, allowed one hit, walked nobody and struck out five. Through four innings the only Greensboro hit was a Plaz double to right field in the fourth, and he was stranded.

Both starters were efficient. Rodriguez needed only 48 pitches to get through four innings, and Reed faced just 14 batters in his four. Asheville's only other hit off Reed was a soft ground-ball single to shortstop by Caden Powell in the third.

Plaz Does It All

The Tourists' best chance came in the fifth. Drew Brutcher doubled to left, and Asheville had runners on the corners with two outs before Plaz threw out Kyle Walker trying to steal second, according to the official play-by-play and 828newsNOW's recap. Plaz did it again in the seventh, cutting down Max Holy at second.

Then he finished the job at the plate. In the bottom of the seventh, against reliever Anthony Cruz, Plaz drove a fly ball out to center for the game's only run. He finished 2-for-3 with the homer and the double, accounting for two of Greensboro's three hits. Brian Sanchez had the other, a fifth-inning single.

Cruz deserved better. He pitched the final four innings for Asheville, allowed two hits and struck out three without a walk, and took the loss to fall to 0-1.

The Bullpen Shuts the Door

After Reed, Jake Shirk worked a scoreless fifth. Owen Kellington followed with two hitless innings and three strikeouts, and he was credited with the win to move to 1-0. Alexis Torres pitched a hitless eighth, working around a throwing error behind him, for his first hold of the season.

Junior Flores closed it out in the ninth for his first save, though not without some tension. Asheville got a runner to second with two outs, according to 828newsNOW, before a strikeout ended the game. Greensboro pitchers finished with 12 strikeouts, and the Tourists left nine runners on base. Kellington, Torres and Flores combined for four hitless innings after Asheville's last hit, Brutcher's double in the fifth.

The two lineups never found much rhythm on a clear, 64-degree night with the wind blowing in from left field. Each team had three hits. Greensboro committed the game's only error and still never trailed.

Greensboro's hitters struck out eight times and did not draw a walk, and they left only two runners on base all night. The Grasshoppers simply made their few chances count, while Asheville's four walks and three hits never turned into a run.

Up Next

The teams were scheduled to play the second game of the series at noon on Wednesday in Greensboro. For a Grasshoppers club that has not lost yet, the opener offered a reminder that the wins do not always need to be loud. Sometimes one swing and a catcher with a strong arm are enough.

Photo Credit: Matthew Lewyn/Undrafted