SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Suns Defeat Greensboro 5-2 for First Sweep of the Season

Published on May 20, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


HAGERSTOWN, MD - The Hagerstown Suns (20-19) scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday afternoon, breaking a 2-2 tie and sending Hagerstown to a 5-2 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers (17-22). The win gives the Suns a season-best four-game winning streak, and wrapped up the team's first series sweep of the year.

The eighth inning rally for Hagerstown began with two outs in the eighth. Catcher Jorge Tillero got the rally going by hitting a ground ball single up the middle into center field. Third baseman Brennan Middleton then caught the defense off guard by bunting for a base hit, putting runners at first and second. Right fielder Alec Keller smacked a third straight single, and this one brought home Tillero from second to give the Suns the lead for good. Shortstop Osvaldo Abreu then made it a three-run game with a bases clearing double on a fly ball to center field.

Greensboro scored both its runs in the top of the eighth inning. With a runner on first and no one out, DH K.J. Woods drove a ball over the right field wall for his second homerun of the season. It was the first homerun hit in the series by the Grasshoppers and it evened the score at 2-2.

The Suns jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a homerun of their own. Center fielder Dale Carey led off the frame by jacking a pitch over the center field wall and into the visitors' bullpen. It was Carey's third homer of the season and second of the homestand.

The Suns lead increased to 2-0 in the fourth. With a runner on third and one out, LF Jeff Gardner smacked a ground ball double to right, driving home 1B Jose Marmolejos for the two-run lead. It was Gardner's third RBI of the series and eighth of the homestand, and he's now on a six-game hitting streak.

RHP Justin Amlung (1-0) was the beneficiary of the eighth inning rally by Hagerstown, as he wound up with the win. He threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief without allowing a baserunner. RHP Austen Williams started for the Suns and went 5.2 innings without giving up a run. RHP Luis Castillo (1-1) suffered the loss for the Grasshoppers. In 1.2 innings of work he surrendered three earned runs on four hits while striking out two.

The Suns next head to Lexington, Kentucky to begin a four-game series against the Lexington Legends (17-21) starting Thursday May 21. The Suns will send RHP Drew Van Orden (1-1) to the mound for his fifth start of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 20, 2015


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