Canning has Two Doubles, RBIs in 10-7 Loss

Kannapolis, NC - Gage Canning had two doubles and two RBIs in the Hagerstown Suns 10-7 loss in the series opener to the Kannapolis Intimidators at Intimidators Stadium on Saturday night. The Suns fall to 7-15 in the second half and 34-56 overall with the second game of the series set for Sunday evening with a 5:05 PM first pitch.

Hagerstown jumped out to an early lead in the opening frame against Kannapolis starter Parker Rigler. Yasel Antuna doubled to left and, with one out, Gage Canning doubled to right to score Antuna and make it a 1-0 ballgame. Jake Scudder doubled to right to plate Canning and Nick Choruby hit a two-out singled to center that allowed Scudder to cross and stake the Suns to a 3-0 lead.
The Suns extended their lead against Rigler and the Intimidators in the second inning with the help of some errors. Juan Pascal reached on a throwing error and stole second, moving to third when Armond Upshaw grounded out. Antuna reached on a fielding error and with Cole Freeman at the plate, Pascal scored when Rigler tried to pick off Antuna at first but made an errant throw. Freeman doubled to left, driving home Antuna and extended the Suns lead to 5-0.
Kannapolis got one run back in the bottom of the second against Suns starter Malvin Pena. Tyler Frost led off with a double to center and Carlos Perez followed by singling to left with Frost moving to third. Justin Yurchak grounded out to first, but Frost scored to make it a 5-1 game.
The Intimidators scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the Suns lead to two runs, but Hagerstown answered back in the top of the fifth with Rigler still on the bump. Freeman walked and Canning immediately lined a double to right field to plate Freeman. Jake Scudder followed with a double to right, allowing Canning to go to third, and Choruby singled to center, scoring Canning to make it 7-3 while Scudder was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
After scoring three runs against Hagerstown reliever Jared Johnson in the fourth to make it a 7-6 game, Kannapolis took the lead in the fifth with Johnson and Jhonatan German on the mound. JJ Muno led off with a walk and advanced to second when Nolan Brown did the ame. Both runners moved up a station on a wild pitch and Tate Blackman singled with one out to plate both runners and give Kannapolis an 8-7 lead. Johnson retired Michael Hickman for the second out of the inning on a fly-out, but German entered out of the bullpen and gave up an RBI double to Anthony Villa to center, scoring Blackman to make it a 9-7 game. Frost extended the lead by knocking in Villa with a single to right before Carlos Perez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Intimidators on top, 10-7. The Suns were unable to mount any offensive over the final four innings, falling 10-7 in the series opener.
Pena allowed three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in a no decision. Johnson (0-1) allowed six runs on four this with three walks and a strikeout in a loss. German spun two and one-third innings with one run on two hits and two strikeouts.
Notes: The eight hits Pena allowed tie a career high which he's allowed three times… Antuna has a three-game hit streak… Canning had his second multi-hit game for the Suns and first multi-RBI effort… He also tied Kameron Esthay, Luis Garcia, and Jake Scudder for most doubles in a game with two… Choruby has a seven-game hit streak… He also had his fifth multi-hit and second multi-RBI games of the year… Scudder had a six-game hit streak… He had his 10^th multi hit game with the Suns… Scudder had two doubles in a game for the second time this season to tie the single-game high… He drove in his 32^nd RBI of the year… Scudder leads the team in the category, surpassing Luis Garcia who was promoted to Potomac with 31… Armond Upshaw extended his hit streak to five games on Saturday… German made his Class-A debut on Saturday… The Suns are 9-5 on Saturdays and 4-3 on the road on Saturdays… Saturday was the second consecutive night that Hagerstown pitching allowed 14 hits in the game… Kannapolis is the first opponent to score at least 10 runs against Hagerstown since Delmarva scored 11 on June 8… The Suns and Intimidators will play the second game of the series on Sunday with a 5:05 PM first pitch… Hagerstown will send RHP Brigham Hill (0-3, 3.92) to the hill against Kannapolis RHP Yosmer Solorzano (1-5, 4.85).
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