SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Suns Notes

Published on June 27, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


About yesterday... The Hagerstown Suns (6-2, 50-28) swept a double-header against the Lexington Legends (2-6, 31-47) on Thursday evening, winning game one 2-3 and game two 1-0. The double-header sweep gave Hagerstown the 3-1 series win over Lexington in the four-game series.

The Legends broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning in game one when CF Alfredo Escalera sent a fly ball over the left field wall for his fifth homer of the season, putting Lexington ahead 1-0. The Suns answered in the bottom of the inning with a long ball of their own, a two-run jack by 1B Jimmy Yezzo to put Hagerstown ahead 2-1.

Another solo shot for Lexington, this time by DH Mauricio Ramos, evened the score at 2-2 in the sixth. However, the Suns answered again in the bottom of the frame with a run of their own. Left fielder Isaac Ballou hit a one-out triple to center field, and 3B Drew Ward brought him home for the winning run with a double to center field.

That allowed starting RHP Nick Pivetta (10-3) to earn his league-leading 10th win of the year. He threw six innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out five. RHP Cody Davis pitched the seventh to record his first save of the year. RHP Jose Rodriguez (2-1) took the loss for Lexington. He pitched just one inning in relief, giving up one earned run on two hits while striking out one.

The lone run in game two of the twin bill came off the bat of DH Carlos Lopez, who hit a rocket into the visitors bullpen past the center field wall for his first homerun of the year. That made it seven of the last eight games for Hagerstown in which at least one Suns player has homered.

One run of support is all starting RHP Lucas Giolito (3-2) needed to notch the win. He worked six innings and allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out a season-high nine batters. LHP Jake Walsh gave up one hit and struck out one in the seventh for his 10th save in 11 chances this season. Starting LHP Crawford Simmons (1-2) was dealt the hard-luck loss for the Legends, as he gave up just one earned run on three hits while striking out five over five innings.

Giolito named to Futures Game... It was announced on Tuesday that Suns RHP Lucas Giolito will be heading to Minneapolis next month for the 16th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which will take place at Target Field on Sunday July 13. Giolito joins OF Michael Taylor as the only two Nationals prospects headed to the game.

Giolito is in his first season with the Suns, and in his third season as a professional after getting drafted by the Nationals with their first round pick (#16 overall) in the 2012 draft out of Harvard-Westlake (CA) High School. This season Giolito is 2-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 11 starts. He has struck out 52 hitters in 48.2 innings worked, and has held opponents to a .186 batting average.

Giolito is joined by Delmarva's RHP Hunter Harvey as the only two players on the U.S. roster currently playing at the full season low-A level. The game pits a "U.S. team" against a "World team", and the game can be seen live on MLB.com and MLB Network, and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday.

On the Mound... RHP Jake Johansen will be heading to the hill this evening for the Suns. He is making his 13th start and 14th appearance this season. He last pitched on June 22 at Greensboro, tossing four innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out three. He has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three outings. This is Johansen's second start against Delmarva this season. He faced the Shorebirds on April 8 at home in his first start of the year and threw four innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. At home this season Johansen is 2-1 with a 7.36 ERA in six games (five starts). Overall this year he has pitched 56.2 innings, surrendering 37 runs (32 earned) on 61 hits including three homers. He has walked 33 and has struck out 49. Tonight he goes up against RHP Sebastian Vader for Delmarva. Vader is making his 13th start and appearance this season. He last threw on June 21 at home against Lexington, going seven scoreless innings and giving up six hits and one walk while striking out five. On the road this year Vader is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in five starts. Overall this season he has pitched 76.0 innings and has allowed 29 runs (25 earned) on 71 hits including four homers.

The deal with Delmarva... The Suns and Shorebirds are playing the 13th of 23 games against each other this season and the seventh of 10 that will take place in Hagerstown. The Suns are 6-6 against Delmarva this year, including a 5-1 record against the Shorebirds at Municipal Stadium. The Shorebirds are currently 42-35 overall and 4-4 in the second half, good for sixth place in the Northern Division second half standings.

Delmarva is currently fifth in team batting with a .269 average and fourth in pitching with a team ERA of 3.29.

Listen Live... All Suns home games this season will be broadcast live with play-by-play provided by Eli Pearlstein on hagerstownsuns.com. Just click on the "Listen Live" or "Listen Live on Tunein Radio" link on the drop down menu when you scroll over the "multimedia" tab at the top-middle of the home page. Games can also be heard on your Iphone or android phone with the Tunein Radio app.

Check out the Hagerstown Suns Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 27, 2014


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