Final Road Series In Books For Burgers

After dropping four of seven games last week in Rome, Hub City hit the road once again for their penultimate series of the 2026 season, facing the Greensboro Grasshoppers in a six-game set.

In Tuesday’s opener, the Spartanburgers got some longevity out of starter Ismael Agreda. He worked six innings, surrendering two runs (one earned) on a pair of hits and a walk, striking out six.

On the other side, the Burgers’ offense broke through against Greensboro’s Ronaldo Gallo on a one out solo homer from Maxton Martin in the top of the second. In the home half, the Hoppers tied it thanks to a one out throwing error charged to shortstop Evan Morrison that allowed first baseman Jared Jones to reach. Tony Blanco Jr followed with a single, and after a wild pitch, Josh Tate grounded out on a comebacker to plate Jones.

Greensboro took the lead in the bottom of the third after a one out walk to Wyatt Sanford, who later stole second and advanced 90 more feet on a fly ball to right from Edward Florentino. Jhonny Severino then delivered a clutch single to plate the go ahead run. But, the lead was short-lived thanks to Martin’s second deep fly of the night, knotting things at 2-2 heading to the bottom of the fourth.

It became a pitching battle from that point. Once Agreda exited, Cole Roland tossed a scoreless no-hit frame with no walks and a strikeout. Jesús Gamez went just a third of a frame, walking a batter and hitting two more to load the bases with one out. He was taken down for Luke Savage, who induced a 4-3 double play to get out of the frame. He would go another full frame, in the end keeping Greensboro off the scoreboard with no walks, hits, or strikeouts.

Nine innings would not be enough, and J’Briell Easley worked a scoreless 10th. But after Hub City took the lead on a wild pitch with one out that plated the ghost runner Carter Garate, Easley returned for the bottom half trying to pick up a save. He was unable to as Florentino led off by sending the 1-2 pitch out of center for a walkoff two-run homer and a 4-3 Greensboro win.

In game two, Aj Russell got the nod opposite right hander Levi Sterling. A good pitching duel ensued. Russell tossed four and a third, giving up just one earned run on five hits and one walk with seven retired on strikes. That lone run came via a leadoff solo homer from right fielder Shalin Polanco in the bottom of the fourth.

Prior to that, Hub City struck for a four-spot in the top half of the frame that started on a hit by pitch to Casey Cook. After Gleider Figuereo followed with a base on balls, Paxton Kling grounded to third, reaching on an errant throw while Cook scored and Figgy took third. Martin made the error hurt even more when he sent his third homer of the

week over the left field fence for three RBIs, making for a 4-0 lead.

Wily Villar relieved Russell and would ultimately go on to get the win. In two and two-thirds scoreless innings, Villar struck out five and did not walk a batter with just one hit given up. In the interim, the offense exploded with three spots in the sixth and eighth.

In the top of the sixth, Martin and Quincy Scott worked back to back walks to start the frame. With one out, Arturo De Freitas skied a three run blast to left to extend the lead to 7-1. In the eighth, it was De Freitas once again, following a leadoff double from Garate and a wild pitch with an RBI single. A walk to Chandler Pollard and a passed ball later, Gleider Figuereo drove in two more with a two out base knock, upping the ante to 10-1.

The Grasshoppers got back in the run column in the bottom of the ninth after Luimy Munoz walked Jared Jones and Jhonny Severino followed with a base hit. Richard Ramirez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but then Shalin Polanco was walked to keep the inning alive. Josh Tate and Sanford notched back to back RBI base hits to cut the deficit to 10-3, but a grounder to second ended the game and evened the series.

Thursday’s game featured Jormy Nivar making his high A debut going up against left hander Reinold Navarro. The Burgers struck first in the top of the second inning on a Quincy Scott homer that made Greensboro pay for a passed ball that allowed Martin to reach despite whiffing for strike three. Back to back homers from Jones and Tony Blanco Jr tied the game at two heading to the third.

In the bottom of the third, despite Richard Ramirez and Jhonny Severino batting out of order, Nivar was chased from that game after a leadoff single from Dylan Palmer, a hit by pitch to Sanford, and a two out walk to Jones led to a Severino two-run single followed by an RBI knock from Blanco Jr. Anthony Susac came on to relieve, getting a fly ball to right to get out of the inning with the Grasshoppers leading 5-2.

Hub City loaded the bases in the ensuing half on a walk to De Freitas sandwiched between a pair of base hits from Antonis Macias and Esteban Mejia. With two away, Figuereo drove in two with a single, cutting the deficit to 5-4, but things unraveled on Susac in the home half.

Polanco, Dylan Palmer, and Sanford all walked to load the bases with nobody out. Florentino then doubled in a pair. With one away, Jones singled to plate two more, prompting a call to the bullpen for Kai Wynyard, inducing a twin killing from Severino to stop the bleeding. In the top of the fifth, the Burgers mounted a threat, loading the bases on a leadoff single from Kling, a one out base on balls to Scott, and another walk to Macias. But, De Freitas was rung up and Mejia flew to right. Hub City never struck again after that.

Greensboro added on with a Jones bomb in the seventh and a Dylan Palmer RBI triple in the eighth. That made for the final 11-4 margin.

In game four, Ben DeTaeye faced off against left hander Jacob Bambi, and the Burgers gave DeTaeye some immediate run support. Paxton Kling led off the game with a single, later stealing second and advancing to third on a fly ball to right from Figuereo. A wild pitch brought Kling home, and Hub City would go on to mount a threat to add on when Martin reached on a two out fielding error on the first baseman and Scott wore one. But, it came to nothing more as Macias hit a comebacker to retire the side.

After a clean frame from DeTaeye, the Spartanburgers added another early run in the top of the second following consecutive walks to Mejia and Stark to start the frame. Morrison bunted them both into scoring position and then Kling worked a walk to load the sacks. Figuereo then reached on a fielder’s choice, grounding to first. Kling was forced at second on the play while Mejia trotted home. Once again, the Burgers failed to do further damage in the inning as Stark was caught stealing home to retire the side with a 2-0 lead.

That lead dissolved very quickly when Jones and Axiel Plaz went yard back to back to tie the game at two heading to the third. The game turned into a teeter totter ride through the middle innings with each team plating a run in the fourth.

Hub City’s came after a one out infield knock from Morrison and a wild pitch. Figuereo reached for the second time without the benefit of a hit or walk when Blanco committed his second error at first of the night, allowing Morrison to score on the play. Once again, the Hoppers got it back immediately when Jones hit his second long ball of the game to lead off the bottom half.

The difference came in the top of the fifth on a rally that began on a one out triple from Scott. A third error charged to Blanco allowed Macias to reach and gave the Burgers the lead for good, but they did add an insurance run when Stark followed a single from Mejia with a ground ball into a fielder’s choice. The shortstop tossed to second to force Mejia while Macias scored on the play, making for the final 5-3 margin.

Both sides hung zeroes the rest of the way. For Hub City, DeTaeye did not qualify for the win, but tossed four and two-thirds innings, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. Luke Savage earned the win in relief, tossing two and a third shutout frames with two hits, no walks, and three retired on strikes. J’Briell Easley got the six out save, hanging a pair of goose eggs despite a hit and two walks, striking out one along the way.

On Saturday, Enrique Segura took to the bump looking to help Hub City take the lead in the series and secure at least a split, squaring off against right hander Draven Zeigler.

Hub City struck for an early 5-0 lead, scoring three in the top of the 2nd and two more in the third. The offense was kickstarted by back to back base hits from Martin and Macias. After Martin was picked off between 2nd and third, Scott singled followed by an RBI double from Garate. With two out, Morrison doubled in Garate to make it 3-0.

The third inning slew of offense came after consecutive walks to Figuereo and Cook to start the frame. With one down, Macias grounded into a fielder’s choice, reaching on the play as first baseman Jhonny Severino threw the ball away for an error that also allowed Figuereo to score. Scott later made the error hurt with a base knock that brought home Cook to make it 5-0.

The Burgers did not score the rest of the way, which came back to bite as the Grasshoppers chipped away over the final three innings. Segura tossed four complete, giving up one run on two hits, five walks, and four strikeouts. Righty Aidan Brainard pitched an inning and two-thirds scoreless despite four hits, walking none with no strikeouts. It was Luimy Munoz the game began to flip on.

Munoz worked two innings, surrendering three earned on just as many hits and a walk, not striking out a batter. With the Burgers still up two, he was taken down for Case Matter to try and save it. But, Matter struggled with command in the bottom of the ninth, during which he got into a bases-loaded no out jam. He managed to hold the Grasshoppers at bay for two outs, but got into a 3-0 count to Shalin Polanco. After getting a called strike, his next pitch missed for a walkoff walk as Hub City fell 6-5 to give Greensboro the series lead and mathematically eliminate themselves from the postseason.

In Sunday’s finale, right-hander Anthony Astudillo went against fellow righty Garrett McMillan. Astudillo’s high A debut did not go the way he wanted, as he went three innings with two earned runs on a pair of hits, four walks, and just as many K’s on his line. The offense did not do any favors to him, mustering just one run on five hits through seven innings.

In the interim, Anthony Susac came on to relieve, working an inning and two-thirds in which he gave up four earned on three hits, four bases on balls, and two strikeouts. Jesús Gamez was also tagged for three runs on just as many hits, two walks, and a pair of K’s in an inning and a third. Wily Villar also was touched for a run on two hits in his lone inning. In total, Greensboro built a 10-1 lead heading to the eighth. But the Burgers came back with a fury.

They hung a six-spot in the top of the eighth, starting with a single from Scott. With one away, DeFreitas also singled followed by a wild pitch to move both runners into scoring position. Morrison delivered with a clutch knock to notch two RBIs and then Kling kept the line moving with a base hit of his own. After a pitching change, Figuereo reached on an error charged to the first baseman Blanco, scoring Morrison and putting men on the corners for Cook, who grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice that plated Kling while Figgy was forced.

Maxton Martin then dealt a big blow — blasting a two-run shot to center, which cut the deficit to 10-7 heading to the home half. But, the Burgers would come no closer, dropping the series.

With the 2026 road slate in the books, the Spartanburgers will return home for their final six games of the season, hosting the Jersey Shore Blueclaws. Pitching matchups are TBD, but the series begins Tuesday night at 6:35 PM.