SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Suns Notes

Published on August 22, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


About last game... The Hagerstown Suns (38-22, 82-48) had the Greensboro Grasshoppers (36-24, 80-50) down to their last strike in the ninth inning on Thursday, when all of a sudden the Greensboro bats finally awoke, resulting in a 14-6 come-from-behind win for the Grasshoppers. The win was the first of the series for Greensboro, and thus the first for the Grasshoppers at Municipal Stadium this season.

Greensboro trailed 6-5 heading into the ninth, but the inning got off to a good start when 3B Brian Anderson was hit by a pitch to get aboard. Right fielder Kentrell Dewitt followed with a walk, but after a pitching change, a sacrifice bunt, and a strikeout, there were two runners in scoring position with two outs.

That's when SS J.T. Riddle stepped to the plate, and after getting into a two strike hole, he drove a single on the ground to right field to plate both runners and make it 7-6 Greensboro. That began a string of nine consecutive Greensboro hitters reaching base safely. When all was said and done the Grasshoppers totaled nine runs in the inning on six hits, four walks, and one hit batsmen.

RHP Jake Johansen (5-6) was charged for the first two of the runs in that ninth inning, and thus got tagged with the loss. His final line read one inning pitched, three earned runs allowed on two hits and one walk. All the other runs in the frame were charged to LHP David Napoli, who entered the game having only allowed one earned run for the Suns all season. He wound up with the blown save, as he went 0.2 innings, giving up seven earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out one. RHP Tyler Bremer (1-0) was the recipient of the offensive outburst as he picked up the win for Greensboro. He threw two scoreless innings, surrendering two hits while striking out four.

Prior to the ninth inning it was a back-and-forth ballgame that saw Hagerstown take an initial 2-0 lead in the third. Both runs were unearned because of two throwing errors by starting LHP Sean Townsley on back-to-back sacrifice bunt attempts. The second throwing error resulted in the first run of the inning being scored, while the second run came home on an RBI single by RF Steven Souza Jr. Souza, who was making a rehab start for Hagerstown, finished the night with one hit in two at-bats as he was pulled after the third inning.

The 2-0 Hagerstown lead was cut to one in the fourth on an RBI single by 2B Avery Romero. The Grasshoppers then plated three in the fifth to take a 4-2 advantage. The big hit in the fifth inning was a two- run single to right by Riddle. Riddle finished the game with a team-leading four RBI.

Hagerstown made it a one-run game again with a run in the bottom of the fifth, and then in the seventh they had a three-run frame of their own to take a 6-4 lead. Third baseman Drew Ward drove in two of the runs in that seventh inning with a double to center field. He scored the final run of the frame on an error by Riddle.

An RBI groundout by 1B Felix Munoz cut Greensboro's deficit to one in the eighth, and set the stage for the ninth inning rally. The Grasshoppers finished the night out-hitting the Suns 17-11, and the teams combined for five errors.

On the Mound... LHP Travis Ott will be heading to the hill tonight for the Suns. He is making his second start and appearance this season with the Suns. His first appearance with Hagerstown came on August 17 at Lakewood. In that outing Ott lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits and one walk as he suffered the loss. Ott began the year with Auburn and went 1-2 with a 3.05 ERA for the Doubledays in 10 games (all starts). In 44.1 innings with Auburn he allowed 16 runs (15 earned) on 33 hits including two homers. He walked 22 and struck out 37. Tonight he goes up against LHP Yohander Mendez for Hickory.

Mendez just got called up today from the Arizona League Rangers, where in three games he went 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA over 5.2 innings. Mendez's last appearance came with the Arizona League Rangers on August 15, at home against the Arizona League Diamondbacks. In that game Mendez threw three scoreless innings, giving up two hits while striking out four. Mendez made four appearances (three starts) for the Crawdads in April. His last appearance with Hickory came on April 18 in a start at Asheville. In that game he pitched six scoreless innings, surrendering two hits while striking out 10. In 15.1 innings pitched with the Crawdads this year, Mendez has given up three runs (two earned) on 13 hits including two homers.

Creeping on the Crawdads... The Suns and Crawdads are playing the seventh of nine games against each other this season, and the fifth of seven that will take place in Hickory. The Suns are 5-1 against Hickory this year, including a 4-0 record in Hickory. The Crawdads are 33-27 in the second half, good for third place in the Northern Division second half standings. Hickory is currently 10th in team batting with a .255 average and sixth in pitching with a team ERA of 3.80.

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 August 22, 2014


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