Charleston, WV - Cole Freeman had a career-high four hits and Andrew Lee earned a quality start for the Hagerstown Suns in a 5-1 loss to the West Virginia Power on Thursday at Appalachian Power Park as West Virginia swept the Suns. Hagerstown falls to 51-78 overall with a second-half
Charleston, WV - Cole Freeman had a career-high four hits and Andrew Lee earned a quality start for the Hagerstown Suns in a 5-1 loss to the West Virginia Power on Thursday at Appalachian Power Park as West Virginia swept the Suns. Hagerstown falls to 51-78 overall with a second-half record of 24-37. The Suns begin the final home stand of the 2018 season on Friday with a 7:05 PM first pitch against the Kannapolis Intimidators.
The Suns took the first lead of the day with a run in the opening frame against Power starter Samuel Reyes. With one out, Cole Freeman doubled off the left field wall to extend his on-base streak to 12 games. With two outs, Anderson Franco grounded a ball to the second baseman who made an errant throw to first, allowing Freeman to score and make it a 1-0 Suns lead.
West Virginia took control in the fifth inning against Suns starter Andrew Lee thanks to a pair of errors. Deon Stafford reached out of the leadoff spot after Juan Pascal made a fielding error and scored when Rodolfo Castro doubled to right to make it a tie game. Castro went to third on an error in right and scored on a wild pitch to give the Power a 2-1 edge.
The Power added three insurance runs in the eighth against Suns reliever Jhonatan German. Lolo Sanchez led off with a walk and stole second base. Travis Swaggerty flew out to right, but Sanchez tagged and went to third. Calvin Mitchell doubled to right, plating both runners to give the Power a 4-1 lead. Deon Stafford reached on a throwing error, scoring Mitchell to extend the lead to 5-1. The Suns were unable to mount a comeback, falling 5-1 as the Power completed a four-game sweep to end Hagerstown's road schedule for the 2018 season.
Lee (4-5) took the loss after tossing six quality innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Jorge Pantoja tossed one spotless inning out of the bullpen with two strikeouts. German threw the eighth, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Notes: Freeman set a new career-high with four hits… He tied Juan Soto, Branden Boggetto, Armond Upshaw, and Luis Garcia for most hits in a game by a Suns batter in 2018… Garcia accomplished the feat three times… Upshaw was the last to do it on July 17 against Kannapolis… Freeman also extended his on-base streak to 12 games… Lee has struck out at least five batters in six consecutive outings… Hagerstown was 0-for-12 with runners in scoring positing… They close out their road schedule with a final record of 25-43… They finish Thursday games with a record of 8-12… Hagerstown was 5-5 at home and 3-7 on the road on Thursdays… Thursday marks the sixth time Hagerstown was swept in 2018 and the first time since Augusta swept a two-game series August 7-10… It's the first time since June 14-15, 2017 that Hagerstown was swept in a four-game series on the road… Kannapolis swept back-to-back doubleheaders in that series… The Suns begin the final homestand of the 2018 season on Friday night against the Kannapolis Intimidators with a 7:05 PM first pitch… The first 1,000 fans through the gate on Friday will receive a Woolie B. Christmas Ornament… Hagerstown will send RHP Tomas Alastre (4-7, 5.29 ERA) to the mound against a Kannapolis starter to be determined… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:55 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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