Rome, GA - Juan Soto homered in his first at-bat of the season, but the Hagerstown Suns lost the season opener to the Rome Braves 5-2 on Wednesday. The Suns fall to 0-1 and will play the second game of the four-game series on Friday with a 7:00 PM first
Rome, GA - Juan Soto homered in his first at-bat of the season, but the Hagerstown Suns lost the season opener to the Rome Braves 5-2 on Wednesday. The Suns fall to 0-1 and will play the second game of the four-game series on Friday with a 7:00 PM first pitch.
Hagerstown jumped out to an early lead by striking in the first inning. Cole Freeman led off with his first hit as a professional, a double with two strikes to right field off Rome starter Kyle Muller. Soto stepped up to the plate with one out and on the second pitch of the at-bat hit the Suns first home run of the year. The long-ball gave Hagerstown a 2-0 advantage.
Rome overtook the Suns in the bottom of the second against Hagerstown starter Brigham Hill. With one out, Jean Carlos Encarnacion singled and Kurt Hoekstra walked for the Braves. Riley Delgado flew out to right for the second out of the inning, but Isranel Wilson tripled to drive in Encarnacion and Hoekstra to tie the game at 2-2. Derian Cruz singled to plate Wilson in the next at-bat and gave Rome a 3-2 lead.
The Braves added a run in the bottom of the third with Hill still in the game for the Suns. Drew Waters led off the inning for Rome with a triple to right and scored on the next pitch when Drew Lugbauer singled, giving the Braves a 4-2 advantage. Hill retired the next three hitters to work out of the inning.
The Suns had an opportunity to pull closer to Rome in the sixth inning against Braves reliever Tanner Allison. With one out, Anderson Franco singled to center and went to second on a wild pitch with Yasel Antuna at the plate. Antuna grounded out, as did Nick Banks to end the inning and the threat.
Rome tacked on an insurance run in the eighth against Suns reliever Jeremy McKinney. Garrison Schwartz walked and with two outs Delgado singled to left. Schwartz scored from second to extend Rome's lead to 5-2. Thomas Burrows, who took the mound for Rome in the eighth, sat down the Suns in order in the ninth to end the game.
Armond Upshaw finished the game 2-for-3 with a strikeout for the Suns. He was ninth in the batting order and was the only Suns player to have a multi-hit game.
Hill (0-1) lasted four innings in his first start of the season, allowing four runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout in the loss. Ben Braymer hurled 3.0 shutout innings out of the bullpen for Hagerstown, allowing three hits while striking out five Braves. Jeremy McKinney threw the eighth, allowing one unearned run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.
Notes: Soto's homer is his fourth as a Suns player… He had his first multi-RBI game of the season… Upshaw is the first Suns player of 2018 to have a multi-hit game… Hagerstown struck out 12 times… The Suns left 6 runners on base and Rome left 8 runners on base… The Suns are now 2-1 when opening the season against Rome since they became a Nationals affiliate (2007)… Hagerstown is now 5-7 on opening day as a Nationals affiliate, with a record of 2-3 at Municipal Stadium and 3-4 on the road… The Suns will try to even the series against the Braves on Friday at State Mutual Stadium with a 7:00 PM first pitch… Hagerstown will send LHP Nick Raquet (0-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound while Rome will counter with RHP Jasseel De La Cruz (0-0, 0.00 ERA)…
