Suns Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short in 6-4 Loss

Charleston, WV -  Alex Dunlap had three of the Hagerstown Suns 14 hits in a 6-4 loss in the series finale against the West Virginia Power on Monday night at Appalachian Power Park. The Suns are 6-12 in the second half with a 33-53 overall record heading into an off-day on Tuesday.

West Virginia got to Suns starter Brigham Hill in the first, taking an early lead. Oneil Cruz led off with a walk and went to third when Rodolfo Castro singled to center. Deon Stafford grounded into a fielder's choice to third, with Cruz staying at third while Castro was thrown out at second. Chris Sharpe grounded into another fielder's choice but reached, and Ben Bengston lifted a sacrifice fly-turned-double play to the outfield that scored Cruz but Sharpe was thrown out at second attempting to advance on a tag. The play both ended the inning and gave the Power a 1-0 lead.
Hagerstown tied the game in the third against Power starter Domingo Robles. Gage Canning led off the frame with a walk and went to third when Brendan Boggetto singled to left. Jake Scudder grounded into a double play but Canning scored to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
The Power took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third and plated four additional runs over the following two innings to extend their advantage to 6-1. The Suns slugged their way back into the game in the ninth against West Virginia reliever Matt Seelinger. Yasel Antuna led off the frame with a solo home run to make it 6-2 and Canning followed up with a single. With two outs, Dunlap ripped his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left to make it a 6-4 ballgame. Paul Panaccione singled to left and went to third when Omar Meregildo doubled, but Kameron Esthay struck out swinging to end the ballgame with the Power avoiding a sweep by a score of 6-4.
Hill (0-3) allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work. Jared Johnson threw 2.1 innings out of the bullpen on Monday, allowing two runs on two this and three walks with a strikeout. Jared Brasher allowed one walk over two innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Notes: Every player in Monday's lineup had at least one hit for Hagerstown… The Suns outhit the power 14-5… Canning had his first multi-hit game for the Suns this season.. Dunlap hit his first homer of the season as part of his first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the year… The three hits tie a career-high, which Dunlap set on July 25, 2017 against the GCL Astros… Meregildo had his fourth multi-hit game of the season… Esthay had his seventh… He also had his second outfield assist of 2018… Antuna has hit five of his six home runs on the road this season… Prior to Monday's game, the Suns had hit a home run in the ninth inning once this season… Hagerstown has hit 21 home runs with two outs this season, more than any other situation… Tuesday is a league-wide off day… The Suns return to action on Wednesday against the Columbia Fireflies with a 7:05 PM first pitch.
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