Game #86 — Away Game #43
Hagerstown Suns (5–10, 35–50) at Delmarva Shorebirds (59–25, 11–4)
Friday, July 5–7:05 p.m.
Perdue Stadium (Salisbury, MD)
NO LATE INNING FIREWORKS IN SUNS LOSS
Both bullpens were nearly flawless in a 3–2 shootout favoring the Delmarva Shorebirds over the Hagerstown Suns at Perdue Stadium Thursday evening. Delmarva (59–25, 11–4) came right out of the shoot and scored three runs in the first two innings to knock Reid Schaller (L, 0–1) out of the game. The Vanderbilt-product struggled to find the strike zone, walking a handful of batters in his two innings. The big moment came in the second inning. Robert Neustrom came to the dish after Schaller walked the bases loaded with a pair of outs. The right fielder sliced one down the right field line to score Cody Roberts and Nick Horvath to give the Shorebirds a 3–0 lead. Hagerstown answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third. After starter Hector Guance (W, 6–3) hit Tyler Cropley and Cody Wilson with pitches, Jackson Cluff drew a walk to load the bases for Drew Mendoza, who ran out an infield single to score Cropley. Next, Jacob Rhinesmith dribbled a ball up the first baseline that Guance couldn’t handle and Wilson burnt around third to bring the Suns within one. Despite getting runners on in each of the final three innings, Hagerstown was unable to score anymore runs and alllowed Matt De La Rosa (S, 3) to close out the game.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
Hagerstown works RHP Jake Irvin (4–4, 4.73 ERA) while Delmarva’s lefty Nic Vespi (4–4, 3.57 ERA) toes the rubber for Delmarva.
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Irvin is starting his fourth game of the year against Delmarva and he has looked great in the driver’s seat against the Shorebirds in his first three games. The righty has a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings of work against the Northern Division foe. Vespi has had varied success against the Suns, but finished June 29 allowing just one run across five innings.
Suns Starters:
Rafael Bautista-CF
Jackson Cluff-SS
Jacob Rhinesmith-RF
Israel Pineda-DH
Justin Connell-LF
Kyle Marinconz-3B
Nic Perkins-C
Cole Daily-1B
Phil Caulfield-2B
Jake Irvin-RHP
GAME NOTES:
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Suns hit their three newest players 1–2–3 in last night’s line-up and the additions continued to wow the National’s Class-A Affiliate. Jackson Cluff hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning in his first professional three-hit performance two nights ago. The BYU-product has now reached base safely in 12 of the 14 games he has played in for Hagerstown. The 2019 sixth-round pick has a .400 on-base percentage through 55 plate appearances this season. Not to be out-done, the Nationals’ third-round pick this season, Drew Mendoza has been able to reach base safely at least twice in each of his four games. The first baseman hit two doubles in his debut against Greensboro and last night in his fourth game of the season, singled and walked.
STOPPING AT THE BUCK: The Suns finished yesterday just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Suns have now tallied just four hits in their last 30 opportunities with runners threatening over their last 19 innings at the plate. It has dropped their mark to .242 on the season.
MOVING PIECES: Yesterday, the Suns made two corresponding roster moves to bring LHP Alex Troop and infielder Phil Caulfield to the active roster. In the exchange, All-Star Gilbert Lara moved up to Potomac and lefty Christian Vann was placed on the injured list.
ROAD WOES: After last night’s loss, the Suns are now 14–28 on the road this year.
TAP THE PEN: Ryan Tapani has bounced between starting and coming from the pen this season. The righty has now played in 17 games and started five on the bump — matching last season’s total. The Creighton-product spun 7.1 innings of scoreless relief since June 29, setting down seven via the strikeout while allowing just three hits.
RACE FOR THE CUP: Last night Delmarva guaranteed at least a share of the Governor’s Cup title with their 11th win of the season against the Suns. They lead the series 11–5 with six games remaining on the 2019 schedule.
ON THE AIR: Suns home games and select road games can be heard at bit.ly/SunsRadio where John Kocsis Jr. brings you the call, beginning with the Suns pre-game show at 6:50 p.m.
