Suns Swept by BlueClaws in 8-0 Loss on Friday

Lakewood, NJ - The Hagerstown Suns were swept in a three-game series by the Lakewood BlueClaws after an 8-0 loss on Friday night at FirstEnergy Park. The Suns fall to 1-7 in the second half and 28-48 overall and will start a four-game series on Saturday against the West Virginia Power with a 6:05 PM first pitch.

Brigham Hill made his return the mound for the Suns after being activated from the disabled list earlier in the week. The righty held Lakewood scoreless over his four innings of work while limiting the BlueClaws to just four hits over that span in his third start of the season for Hagerstown.
Lakewood blew the game open against Suns reliever Frankie Bartow in his South Atlantic League debut, scoring six runs in the sixth inning. Daniel Brito singled to left and Jhailyn Ortiz was hit by a pitch. Rodolfo Duran singled to left to load the bases, and Quincy Nieporte drove in two runs with a double to left-center to give Lakewood the lead. Gregori Rivero followed up with a single to score Duran and Josh Stephen clubbed a three-run shot over the left-field wall to make it a 6-0 BlueClaws lead.
Duran struck again in the seventh against Suns reliever Carlos Pena to pad Lakewood's lead. With one out, Duran hit his third home run in as many nights to give the BlueClaws a 7-0 lead. The ball traveled 418 feet over the left-center field wall to extend Lakewood's largest lead of the series. Lakewood tacked on another run in the eighth and went on to shut out the Suns 8-0, completing the sweep of the three-game series.
Hill threw four scoreless innings while allowing two hits and two walks with a strikeout in a no decision. Bartow (0-1) went two innings in a loss, allowing six runs on six hits with a strikeout. Pena threw two innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
Notes: Hill and Dunlap both played in games for Hagerstown for the first time since April when both players were placed on the DL… Freeman extended his hit streak to four games… Antuna tied a career-high with three strikeouts… It's the fourth time in his career he's done so… Meregildo also struck out three times… Hagerstown was shut out for the 11^th time this season… They were also swept for the third time this year… Delmarva swept the Suns April 16-18 and West Virginia completed a sweep May 9-11…
Lakewood's six hits in the sixth are tied for the most in an inning by a Suns opponent this season…
The Suns will begin a four-game series on Saturday against the West Virginia Power with a 6:05 PM first pitch… Hagerstown will send RHP Tomas Alastre (3-2, 4.68 ERA) against West Virginia RHP Hunter Stratton (3-3, 5.83 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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