All Hands on Deck: Nick Economos shines in a losing effort Greensboro

Altoona was the only team to win as they were the only team who’s batters fanned fewer than ten times, while Greensboro’s Nick Economos spun a gem in a losing effort.

Triple-A

Indianapolis (19-16) fell 7-4 to visiting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (19-16) as Dario Agrazal (3.22) had a rough start.

Agrazal had only allowed four earned runs in his last five starts for Altoona and Indy, and only two walks all year, before being knocked around for five runs on five hits and three walks in only 3 ²⁄₃ innings. Luis Escobar, recently promoted from Bradenton, then came in and surrendered a pair of homers, his first runs allowed all year.

Will Craig (248/329/496) hit his tenth homer of the year, a two-run shot in the eighth, but it was too little, too late. Kevin Kramer (293/375/455) had his 3rd straight multi-hit game and has a .371 BA over his last ten games. J.B. Shuck also had two hits while Jose Osuna (281/373/391) was 0-4 with a walk and three K’s.

Double-A

Altoona (20-19) scored early and often, with three in the first, to cruise to an 8-1 win over visiting Harrisburg (28-11).

Cam Vieaux (2.84) bounced back from a couple shaky starts, allowing only an unearned run over seven innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.

3B Hunter Owen (311/367/600) had two hits, including a solo homer, his ninth, and drove in three. 2B Mitchell Tolman (264/333/409) was 3-for-3, and LF Logan Hill (287/365/450) had two hits.

High-A

Starter Oddy Nunez (4.67) got hammered for three runs in the first and two more in the third en route to visiting Fort Myers (25-14) 13-7 rout of Bradenton (22-17)

Gavin Wallace (7.97 ERA, six hits in 2 ²⁄₃ IP) and Pedro Valdes (5.12 ERA, five runs in two IP) threw more gas on the fire.

SS Robbie Glendinning (364/402/677) was 1-for-3 with a fifth inning grand slam, his sixth homer overall this year. DH Randolph Gassaway (208/296/208) and C Raul Hernandez (197/240/239) each had a pair of hits and CF Travis Swaggerty was 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. On the down side, RF Cal Mitchell (277/317/453) was 0-for-5 with a pair of K’s and is 1-for-21 with nine whiffs in his last five games.

Bradenton batters combined for 15 strikeouts.

Low-A

Nick Economos (2.48), a 23 year old right-hander in his fifth year in the system and repeating Low-A, allowed two runs, one earned in five innings, along with one walk and eleven strikeouts, as Greensboro (24-14) fell to visiting Delmarva (29-8) by a score of 4-1.

Economos was drafted after one year at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, has never pitched more than 57 innings in a season. Unimpressive his first three years, Economos put up a 2.52 ERA with 58 K’s in 53 ²⁄₃ innings while repeating at short-season Morgantown in 2018. This year he has a 2.48 ERA and 50 K’s in only 32 ²⁄₃ innings.

Six different Greensboro batters got one hit each, including Lolo Sanchez, Jonah Davis, Mason Martin and Pat Dorrian. The team struck out 12 times, nine against reliever Zach Matson, who allowed only one baserunner in four innings.