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SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Grace's Six Scoreless Innings Propel Suns to Game 2 Win over Braves

May 1, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


Rome, GA- The Hagerstown Suns (15-9) garnered their sixth victory over the Rome Braves (6-18) in the 2011 campaign with a 4-0 shutout at State Mutual Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Suns win was their fourth in a row and fifth in shutout fashion this season.

Suns LHP Matt Grace (2-3), the winning pitcher, would break out of a personal three game losing slide on the strength of 6.0 scoreless frames in which he separated two base hits, while walking three and striking out a trio. This was Grace's second win against the Rome Braves in '11 as he went 6.0 scoreless on April 8th en route to his first victory of the year.

Hagerstown's bullpen was terrific as RHP Shane McCatty surrendered one hit, walked one, and fanned one in 2.0 innings, giving way to LHP Chris Manno who closed the door in the bottom of the 9th inning with two strikeouts, despite walking his second batter of the 2011 season.

Braves LHP, Ronan Pacheco (0-2), the losing pitcher, much like LHP Steven Kent in Game One, garnered a quality start but did not receive enough run support to win. Pacheco went 6.0 innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.

The Suns got on the scoreboard in the 4th inning with an RBI single from LF Randolph Oduber, scoring 2B Blake Kelso who singled up the middle. In the Hagerstown half of the 6th frame, RF Bryce Harper doubled home DH Adrian Sanchez with a hard liner to left center field. Sanchez had reached with a fielder's choice chopper.

Hagerstown hitters would supplement their offensive attack with single tallies in the 8th and 9th innings. Sanchez rifled a low line drive past 3B Elmer Reyes into left field bringing home CF Michael Taylor, who hit a soft liner to center for a single to get on base. Suns C Cole Leonida would later collect his first RBI of the season on a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield summoning home 1B Mills Rogers, who was hit by a pitch from RHP Matthew Suschak.

Rogers made a Major League caliber defensive play in the bottom of the 8th when 1B Barrett Kleinknecht popped a ball up in foul territory in front of the Suns first base side dugout. Rogers got a great jump, tracked the high pop, and made the catch crashing into the fa� - ade of the Suns dugout and almost flipped end-over-end with his teammates spotting his fall. LF Robby Hefflinger had reached with a leadoff double to left center and tried to take third base as Rogers' back was to the infield after making the marvelous basket catch. Rogers, hearing that Hefflinger was sprinting to third base, spun around and delivered a long strike to 3B Sean Nicol to ensure the 3-to-5 double play. This was easily the best defensive play of the season among all Hagerstown Suns defenders.

The Suns will clash with the Braves in Game Three on Monday morning at State Mutual Stadium. First pitch is slated for 10:30am as the ballpark will serve as the host site for an education day for area students. Live broadcast coverage of the Hagerstown Suns will be available on the Hagerstown Suns Baseball Network provided by MiLB.com and is scheduled to begin at 10:15am.

The Hagerstown Suns play at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, MD and are a Class "A" affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Season ticket packages, group outings, and corporate sponsorships are available by calling the Suns at 301-791-6266. Visit the Suns on the web at www.hagerstownsuns.com. The Suns are owned by Hagerstown Baseball, LLC.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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