Suns Lose Third Straight on Thursday

Lakewood, NJ - Luis Garcia had two hits as the Hagerstown Suns lost their third-straight in a 7-4 loss to the Lakewood BlueClaws on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Park. The Suns fall to 1-6 in the second half and 28-46 overall and will play the series finale on Friday against the BlueClaws with a 7:05 PM first pitch.

Lakewood took a two-run lead in the first inning against the Suns and starter Seth Romero. Simon Muzziotti led off by reaching on a throwing error and with one out, Nick Maton doubled to right to drive in Muzziotti and give the BlueClaws a 1-0 lead. Jhailyn Ortiz flew out to deep center field, allowing Maton to tag and move to third. Rodolfo Duran popped a ball up on the infield that fell for a base-hit, scoring Maton and giving Lakewood a 2-0 advantage.
The Suns tied the game in a crazy third inning against Lakewood starter Kyle Young. Kameron Esthay led off by reaching on an error and Armond Upshaw singled to left with both runners advancing on an error by right fielder Jhailyn Ortiz. Cole Freeman drove both runners home with a single to right, but he was thrown out at second after trying to advance on an errant throw. When the dust settled, the Suns had tied the game, 2-2.
The game remained tied until the sixth inning when Duran homered on a Suns pitcher for the second consecutive night. With one out, Duran pounded his 10^th homer of the season over the left field wall against Suns reliever Carlos Acevedo to make it a 3-2 game.
Lakewood added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh against Suns reliever Jared Johnson.
Colby Fitch reached on an error and Jose Antequera bunted to moved him into scoring position. Muzziotti singled to center to drive in Fitch and make it a 4-2 game. A walk and hit batter loaded the bases, and Ortiz lifted a sacrifice fly into the outfield to pad the Lakewood lead and make it a 5-2 ballgame.
The Suns got a pair of runs back in the eighth against relievers Luis Cedeno and Zach Warren. With two outs, Nick Choruby walked and went to third when Luis Garcia doubled to right. Omar Meregildo reached on an error when he popped up in front of home plate and Duran dropped the ball which allowed both Chrouby and Garcia to score, bringing the Suns within a run at 5-4.
Lakewood went on to score two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, and the Suns went down in order to end the ballgame in the ninth while losing by a final of 7-4. Hagerstown lost their third straight game and sixth of the second half.
Romero threw four and two-thirds innings while allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts in a no decision. Acevedo (0-4) took the loss, throwing one and one-thirds innings while allowing a run and a hit with two strikeouts. Johnson threw two innings while allowing four runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Notes:  Romero's 4.2 innings was his longest start of the season… He also threw a season-high 88 pitches… Duran's homer in the sixth was the first home run Acevedo gave up since May 15 against Charleston… Garcia extended his hit-streak to five games… He also had his 22^nd multi-hit game, which leads the team… Freeman has a three-game hit streak… There were 4,320 people in attendance, which is the sixth largest crowd Hagerstown has played in front of this season… The Suns and BlueClaws will play the series finale on Friday with a 7:05 PM first pitch… Hagerstown will send RHP Brigham Hill (0-1, 3.24 ERA) against Lakewood RHP Spencer Howard (3-7, 5.64 ERA)… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:50 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia and "Listen Live"... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network via the Tune-In Radio and MiLB First Pitch apps.
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