Suns Fall to Power 7-2 in Series Opener on Monday

Charleston, WV - The Hagerstown Suns took a series-opening 7-2 loss to the West Virginia Power on Monday night at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston. The loss drops Hagerstown to 24-34 in the second half and 52-75 overall with the second game of the four-game set schedule for Tuesday with a 7:05 PM first pitch.
After a scoreless first, West Virginia jumped out to a five-run lead in the second against Hagerstown starter Sam Held in his sixth start of the season. Raul Hernandez led off by reaching on an error and went to second when Robbie Glendinning singled. Jesse Medrano followed suit to load the bases and Luke Mangieri walked, plating Hernandez to give the Power a 1-0 advantage. Held struck out the next two batters but walked Rodolfo Castro to force Glendinning to the plate and give West Virginia a 2-0 lead. Cal Mitchell doubled to left in the next at-bat, clearing the bases to extend the Power lead by three runs and give West Virginia a 5-0 lead.

Hagerstown got a run back in the fourth against Power starter Ike Schlabach. With one out Anderson Franco singled to right and with two outs Omar Meregildo singled to center. Phil Caulfield doubled to center, scoring Franco to make it a 5-1 game with the Power still in front.
West Virginia extended their lead in the fifth against Held and the Suns. Deon Stafford was hit by a pitch and Raul Hernandez doubled to left, scoring Stafford to give the Power a 6-1 advantage while Hernandez went to third on the throw to home. Glendinning singled through the left-side of the infield to plate Hernandez while the Power exited the inning with a 7-1 lead.
The Suns added a run in the sixth against Schlabach. Franco led off with a walk and went to third when Alex Dunlap doubled to left. Meregildo plated Franco with a sacrifice fly to cut the Power's lead to five with a 7-2 score. The Suns failed to score again over the final three innings, falling in the series opener 7-2.
Held (5-7) took the loss despite a quality start, tossing six innings while allowing seven runs (three earned) on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Phil Morse hurled two scoreless innings, allowing a hit with a strikeout.
Notes:  Held set a new career-high in strikeouts with seven, surpassing his previous high of five… He also hurled his third quality start of the season… It's the Suns 40^th as a staff… Held's two walks are a season-high… Freeman has a three-game hitting streak… He also had his 26^th multi-hit effort of the year… Meregildo had two hits, extending his hit streak to three games… It was also his 14^th multi-hit effort of the season… Franco extended his hit streak to three games… Scudder's eight-game hit streak came to an end after he went 0-for-4… Caulfield had his third multi-hit game of the season… Both of his hits were doubles, tying him with four other for most doubles in a game by a Suns hitter in 2018… Hagerstown is 15-46 when their opponents score first… The Suns trail in the season series against the Power, 4-7 with three left to play… Hagerstown is 15-24 in the first game of a series… The Suns continue their four-game set with West Virginia on with a 7:05 PM first pitch… The Suns will send LHP Jackson Stoeckinger (2-5, 7.16 ERA) to the mound against Power LHP Oddy Nunez (0-0, 1.88 ERA)… 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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