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SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Suns Fall to Fireflies 14-6 in Series Opener

August 18, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


Hagerstown, MD - Alex Flores was a triple shy of the cycle as the Hagerstown Suns fell to the Columbia Fireflies 14-6 on Saturday night at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are 21-31 in the second half and 48-71 overall and will play game two of the four-game set on Sunday afternoon with a 2:05 PM first pitch.

Columbia scored first in the opening inning against Suns starter Andrew Lee. Hansel Moreno led off with a walk, stole second and third, and David Miranda walked to put runners at the corners with no outs. Matt Winaker belted a 380-foot home run to make it a 3-0 Fireflies lead.

The Suns scored one run in the bottom half of the inning against Fireflies starter Luc Rennie. With one out, Cole Freeman doubled to right and stole third. Anderson Franco grounded out, plating Freeman to cut the Columbia lead to 3-1.

Hagerstown tied the game in the third against Rennie. Armond Upshaw led off with a single and Freeman doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Franco reached on an infield single while Upshaw scored to make it 3-2 and Freeman advanced to third. With two outs, Alex Flores doubled down the right-field line, plating Freeman to tie the game, 3-3.

Columbia regained the lead in the fourth against Lee. With one out, Jose Brizuela walked, and Jay Jabs doubled, scoring Brizuela to retake the lead 4-3. The Fireflies added on eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings against Lee and Suns reliever David Smith. After four runs in the fifth, Smith let up a 439-foot grand-slam to Zach Rheams to right-center field to make it a 12-3 Columbia lead.

The Suns scored a run in the sixth against Rennie in his last inning of work. Flores crushed a 408-foot home run to right, making it a 14-4 Fireflies lead. Columbia added two more runs against Smith in the seventh inning. Jabs belted a two-run home run to right, extending the Fireflies lead to 14-4.

The Suns attempted a rally in the ninth against Fireflies reliever Ronald Sanchez. Hagerstown scored two runs and had runners in scoring position but left them stranded as the Suns fell 14-6 on Saturday night.

Lee (4-3) pitched four and a third innings while allowing six runs on three hits, walking five and striking out six. Smith pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up eight runs on seven hits while walking one with two strikeouts. Jared Brasher pitched the final two innings while allowing three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

Notes: Tonight's attendance of 3,791 is the largest crowd of the 2018 season... Omar Meregildo extended his hit streak to six games... Kameron Esthay extended his hit streak to five games... Upshaw has a four game hit streak... He also had his 14th multi-hit game of the season... Franco had his fifth multi-RBI game of the season... Flores has 10 multi-hit games... He tied his career and season-high for the fifth time with three hits... Freeman had his 21st multi-hit game of the year... His hit streak is up to three games... Smith made his first appearance for the Suns this season... He allowed eight runs, all of which were earned, to tie Phil Morse for the most allowed by a reliever in a game this season... Morse did it in last night's 15-3 loss... The 29 runs allowed over the last two games are the most given up by Hagerstown's pitching staff in a two-game stretch this season... The Suns are 16-28 in games decided by four or more runs... They are 31-46 when the opponent starts a righty... Hagerstown is 14-44 when the opponent scores first... Hagerstown will play game two of the four-game series with Columbia Sunday afternoon with a 2:05 PM first pitch... It's Sunday Funday at the Muni, where Kids Club members are invited to play catch on the field before the game and all kids can run the bases after the game... Sunday is the final Bark in the Park of the season and is presented by Hearty Pet... The Suns will send RHP Tomas Alastre (4-6, 5.14 ERA) to the mound against Fireflies RHP Nicolas Debora (3-3, 3.02 ERA)... The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 1:55 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia tab and clicking on "Listen Live"... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio and MiLB First Pitch apps.

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