Hagerstown, MD - Alex Flores hit a walk-off homer in the seventh inning of game two on Wednesday, helping the Suns split the twin bill with the Lakewood BlueClaws with a 5-2 loss in game one and a 2-1 win in game two at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are
Hagerstown, MD - Alex Flores hit a walk-off homer in the seventh inning of game two on Wednesday, helping the Suns split the twin bill with the Lakewood BlueClaws with a 5-2 loss in game one and a 2-1 win in game two at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are 21-36 overall and will play the series finale on Thursday with a 7:05 PM first pitch for the rubber match.
Hagerstown got on the board early, scoring a run in the first inning on Lakewood starter Ramon Rosso. Cole Freeman led off the frame with a walk, stealing second and going to third when Luis Garcia singled to center. Nick Banks singled to center field, driving in Freeman to give the Suns a 1-0 lead.
Lakewood took the lead in the fourth against Suns starter Matthew DeRosier. With one out, Colby Fitch launched a solo homer to right field to quickly tie the game. Quincy Nieporte singled to left and Daniel Brito singled to right to move Nieporte to third and a passed ball pushed Brito to second. Rodolfo Duran popped a singled to right field, scoring Nieporte to give the BlueClaws the lead, 2-1. Jesus Alastre extended Lakewood's lead with a groundout that plated Brito, giving them a 3-1 advantage.
The Suns closed in on Lakewood and Rosso in the fourth with a run of their own. Yasel Antuna doubled to left and went to third when Jeyner Baez singled to left. With Kameron Esthay at the plate, Rosso uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Antuna to score and cut the BlueClaws lead to 3-2. Esthay and Armond Upshaw both struck out to end the inning and the threat, with Baez at second base. Lakewood scored two more runs in the game, defeating the Suns in game one 5-2.
DeRosier (2-3) threw six innings while allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts in a loss. Jared Brasher pitched the seventh, allowing one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
The Suns crossed the first run of game two in a battle of two SAL All-Star pitchers with Will Stewart taking the hill for Lakewood. Antuna led off the second inning with a double to left and with one out Paul Panaccione moved Antuna to third with a single to the left side of the infield. Flores grounded into a fielder's choice, but Antuna was able to score and give Hagerstown a 1-0 lead.
Lakewood tied the game in the seventh against Suns starter Nick Raquet as he closed in on his second complete game of the season. Fitch reached on an error and Kevin Markham entered as Fitch's pinch runner, moving to second when Nieporte worked a walk. Brito pinch ran for Nieporte and Nick Maton bunted both runners up a station. With one out, Gregori Rivero grounded out to short but Markham scored to tie the game, 1-1, while Brito moved to third. Jesus Alastre grounded out to short, ending the inning and the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh Hagerstown walked-off the BlueClaws against reliever Addison Russ, the SAL leader in saves. Flores walked up to the plate in the seventh to face Russ, who was 11-for-11 in save opportunities this season. After taking the first pitch of the at-bat for a strike, Flores hammered his third home run of the season over the right-center field wall to give the Suns a walk-off win, 2-1.
Raquet (4-5) threw a complete game in a win, going seven innings while allowing one unearned run on five hits, with three walks and three strikeouts.
Notes: Flores' homer is the first walk-off home run of the 2018 season for the Suns… The last time the Suns won on a walk-off homer was April 23, 2017 when Blake Perkins hit a three-run blast against Delmarva… It was also a double header… Flores had his fourth multi-RBI game of the season… Raquet threw his second complete game of the season... Garcia had a multi-hit effort in both games…. He has 14 multi-hit games this season… He's tied for the league lead in that category… Panaccione had his first multi-hit game of the season… It's his first multi-hit game since September 4, 2017 when he had four-hits in the season finale for the Suns… Hagerstown turned four double plays in game two, which ties the single-game high… Banks had his 13th multi-hit game of the year in game one… Boggetto extended his hit-streak to eight games… The streak left off on May 20 when he was promoted to A+ Potomac… The Suns will play the BlueClaws on Thursday night in the series finale… Hagerstown will send LHP Seth Romero (0-0, 0.00) to the mound against BlueClaws LHP Kyle Young (1-2, 2.00)… Thursday night's 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 in the Tune-In Radio App.
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