Burgers Take Series Against Emperors

It is difficult to argue that over the last 2 weeks of the season the Hub City Spartanburgers aren’t playing their best baseball of the season in all four facets of the game. They entered this week’s slate of  6 road contests with the Rome Emperors on a season-best 5 game win streak, having won 5 of 6 in a series for the first time in the 2025 campaign while also locking up just their second series win of their inaugural season. They also leap frogged (Greenville Drive pun slightly intended..) from 4th to tied for first place with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the South Atlantic League’s second half South Division standings.

Looking to stretch the streak to 6 in a row on Tuesday night in the opener, Leandro Lopez took to the mound opposite Rome righty Cedric De Grandpre. Both starters locked horns with Lopez exiting after 5 shutout innings, having struck out 2, walked 2, and given up 2 hits. One may argue that was the fatal flaw for Chad Comer in this game. Lopez was taken down having thrown just 64 pitches and may very well have been able to stretch another inning or two. But, Chad opted to pull him and put Dalton Pence on the bump to start the 6th – which started with a leadoff single that would be cashed in with a steal, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly to give the Emperors a 1-0 lead heading to the 7th.

De Grandpre ended up winning the duel in the end after working 6 complete shutout frames with 8 strikeouts, no walks, and just 3 hits, which earned him the win. Hub City squandered their most golden opportunity to crack the scoreboard, having worked the bases loaded in the top of the 8th. Quincy Scott II singled with 2 out, followed by an Anthony Gutierrez walk and a Malcolm Moore hit by pitch, bringing Gleider Figuereo to the dish with the Spartanburgers trailing 4-0 thanks to 2 runs surrendered by Joey Danielson in the bottom of the 7th. Unfortunately, Figgy lined out to 2nd on the first pitch to leave burgers on the grill and all but seal the deal for Rome, snapping HC’s 5-game win streak.

In total, the Burger bullpen surrendered 6 hits and failed to hang a zero over 3 innings of work, leading to the first shutout loss for the Burgers since June the 13th. But, they would rebound nicely over the next 3 games.

Wednesday night, following a 2-hour rain delay, Josh Trentadue hit the bump and coasted his way through 4 and two-thirds frames of 1-run ball. He struck out 6, walked one, and surrendered just the one earned on three hits, which came in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI triple from Rome Catcher Mac Guscette.

Trentadue got some run support in the top of the third in the next paragraph in the ongoing feel-good story of Spartanburger Shortstop John Taylor, who just signed with the Rangers on a minor league free agent deal back on June 26th and was assigned to Hub City shortly thereafter. Prior to that, John made a living as a social media influencer with the popular Youtube channel Baseball Bat Bros, which was founded by former Clemson Tiger (and John’s brother) Will Taylor. John clubbed his first home run as a professional baseball player off Rome’s Herick Hernandez – a fly ball that went over the grass berm in right field for a solo shot to put Hub City up 1-0.

The Burgers added on what would be the decisive insurance run in the 5th inning when Arturo Disla drew a walk on which  ball 4 was a wild pitch, scoring Gutierrez from third. The pitching was the rest of the story as Seth Clark earned the win in 1.1 scoreless – his 2nd win in as many weeks. Willian Bormie notched a 2 inning save, striking out 4 with 2 walks, and no runs on 1 hit in a 2-1 victory for Hub City.

That win stretched to a new streak on Thursday as the Spartanburgers had an offensive explosion in the top of the ninth to back up excellent work from both Kolton Curtis, who was making his first start since going on the Injured List 2 weeks ago after a just 0.2 inning start in Bowling Green, and Dylan MacLean. Curtis went three shutout/no-hit innings with three K’s and no walks. MacLean piggybacked it with 5 more innings, giving up just 1 earned on 6 hits with 3 more retired on strikes and 1 walk, making him the victorious pitcher of record.

Quincy Scott went 3 for 4 with 3 runs driven in, Gutierrez went 3-5 with an RBI and three stolen bases, while Arturo Disla and Malcolm Moore each notched 2 ribbys in a 6-1 Hub City victory that pushed their overall season record back over .500 at 42-41.

That offensive output was nearly doubled on Friday night as the Burgers teed off early on Braves #7 prospect Garrett Baumann. Dylan Dreiling got the party started with a ball he hit barely 20 feet in front of the plate, legging out a 1 out infield single that scored Gutierrez – who singled to start the game, swiped 2nd, and took third on a grounder from Gleider Figuereo. With 2 out, Yeison Morrobel connected for a 2 run blast to up the advantage to 3-0 before Rome ever came to the plate for the first time.

After three straight singles off Burger starter Dalton Pence to start the ensuing half inning got Rome on the board, the bats dealt another decisive blow in the top of the 2nd – this time in the form of Figuereo’s 15th home run of the season – a no doubt 416 foot three-run bomb into the bullpen in right center that doubled the lead to 6-1.

That score held for a while as Pence settled in and finished the next 2 frames with just a hit, no more runs, no walks, and none retired on strikes. Baumann matched the goose eggs, eventually persevering through the fifth inning. Back on the Burgers’ pitching side of things, Mailon Felix came on to bridge the gap in the 4th and struggled with command, walking 2 and hitting a pair of batters, which forced in the 2nd Emperor run of the game. But, he got out of the jam with a 6-2 lead intact.

Hub City put the game away in the top of the eighth with a 4 spot on 5 hits to make it 10-2, which held as the final score in a third straight win to secure at least a share of the series thanks to a single-game season-high tying 14 hits and a 5 for 14 effort with runners in scoring position.

DJ McCarty went on to earn the win in relief, going the rest of the way with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 4 hits across 5 shutout frames.

With a chance at a fourth straight and a series clinch on Saturday, Mason Molina got the nod for Hub City looking for a continuation of his solid work of late. But after wasting a 1 out Gleider Figuereo hit by pitch (the first of a new single game record three beanings Figgy took in the game), it became very apparent that Molina did not have it and would have a short night. He made it through the bottom of the first inning in spite of a pair of singles thanks to a 4-6-3 double play. After the Burgers went three up three down in the ensuing half inning, Molina surrendered a 5 spot on 4 hits, yanked after just an inning and a third with no strikeouts and 3 walks.

That inning was basically all Rome starter Adam Maier needed as he ended up tossing a no-hitter into the 7th inning. That no-no was finally broken with 1 away when Disla grounded a seeing-eye single up the middle that was followed with another base knock from Taylor. Nothing came of the best chance to hang some runs on the board as a strikeout and an unassisted fielders choice force at third ended the inning.

In the end, no arm used by the Burgers could leave a zero in the run column of their box score or work a 3 up three down frame until the 7th and 8th. Adonis Villavicencio struck out 2 and induced a pop up in his first of 2 sets out of the bullpen and Seth Clark managed to work around a 1 out single in his lone inning. That all resulted in the Emperors tacking double digit runs with 10 on 13 hits en route to the 2nd blanking dealt to the Burgers this week.

The shutout loss did not dash the hopes for a second consecutive series win for HC, who would be able to do so by salvaging the finale on. Sunday afternoon. They had to have some confidence with the consistency of Jose Gonzalez – who would be on the mound for the ‘Burgers.

Gonzo dealt with his fair share of traffic on the base paths in game 6, surrendering 6 hits and a walk in 5 innings of work (meaning there would be no consecutive quality starts – he has 4 in his last 6 outings). Jose also struck out 5.

Hub City’s offense could not provide him with run support through the first 5 frames, but finally broke through with back to back RBI doubles in the top of the 6th from Disla and Cook. In the 8th, after Joey Danielson surrendered a leadoff single to Rome first baseman Mason Guerra followed by an run-scoring 2 bagger to right fielder Justin Janas, Dylan Dreiling provided a crucial insurance run with his 8th long ball of the season – a solo blast to the picnic tables next to the playground beyond the berm in right.

Willian Bormie would end up closing out the series with a scoreless ninth, having just allowed 1 base runner on a walk – making for 6 saves on the season as Hub City claimed the series with a 3-1 victory that, paired with a 3rd straight loss to Greensboro by Bowling Green gives the Spartanburgers a 2 game lead atop the SAL South 2nd half standings.

With the Major League All Star Break and the draft this week, Minor League baseball will take an intermission as well, meaning the Burgers (44-42, 13-8) won’t take the diamond again until Friday night as they host the Brooklyn Cyclones from the SAL North. First pitch for “Christmas in July night”/Fireworks Friday is set for 7:05 PM at Fifth Third Park with the pitching matchup yet to be determined.