Hagerstown Suns win on road; struggle before the home crowd

Great pitching for the Greensboro Grasshoppers propelled them past the Hagerstown Suns 5- 1 on Sunday at Municipal Stadium.

Cristhian Martinez pitched seven strong innings for the Grasshoppers, limiting the Suns to one run on four hits. Martinez (9- 3) struck out four Suns on his way to the win.

Relievers Chris Leroux and Benito Beato also shut down the Suns over the final two innings.

Jeff Mandel started on the mound for Hagerstown and took the loss, pitching 4.2 innings while allowing four earned runs while striking out three Grasshoppers.

Greensboro scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run double by Logan Morrison.

The Suns had a chance to respond in the bottom half of the fourth as the bases were loaded with no outs when Trevor Lawhorn grounded into a double play. Francisco Plasencia scored from third base, but Francisco Guzman struck out swinging to end the threat.

Two more runs for the Grasshoppers in the top of the fifth inning and another in the sixth put the game out of reach for the Suns.

Three errors leading to four unearned runs led to the downfall of the Hagerstown Suns against the Greensboro Saturday, losing 6-4.

Erik Arnesen took the loss for Hagerstown, pitching four innings and allowing all six Greensboro runs. However, only two of the six runs were earned. Arnesen also struck out three batters and walked two.

Mark Lewis got the win for Greensboro, lasting five innings and allowing all four Hagerstown runs.

James Guerrero and Jake Blackwood each had two hits for Greensboro and Spike McDougall hit his 18th home run of the season to power the 'Hoppers attack.

For Hagerstown, it was outfielders Francisco Guzman and Francisco Plasencia that led the way. Guzman had two doubles and scored a run while Plasencia had two hits including his 14th home run of the season.

Chris Lugo and Aaron Jackson were excellent for Hagerstown in relief. Lugo pitched two innings, without allowing a hit and Jackson pitched three scoreless to finish the game for the Suns.

Mike Martinez committed all three errors for the Suns, committing errors in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings.

The Suns won game two of their four game series with the Grasshoppers 2-1 Friday night at Municipal Stadium.

Strong pitching propelled the Suns to the victory, with starter Brad Meyers pitching six innings and allowing only one run. Relievers Joe Welsh and Josh Wilkie were equally effective, pitching the final three innings without allowing Greensboro to score.

The lone run for Greensboro came on the first pitch of the game from Meyers as John Raynor hit a wind-aided home run to right-center field.

The Suns failed to muster any offense until the 7th inning when Joe Napoli singled to start the inning. After a Jhonatan Solano flyout, third baseman Trevor Lawhorn doubled to right-center field, setting up Francisco Guzman with two runners on and only one out.

Guzman delivered with a two- RBI single into left field, giving the Suns the lead for good.

Joe Welsh (2-2) got the win; while Wilkie picked up his eighth save of the season. Hyle (4-5) took the loss for the Grasshoppers.

Hagerstown lost the opening game of a four game series with the Greensboro in 10 innings by a final score of 6-5 Thursday.

Leading 3-1 going into the top of the 9th inning, the Suns allowed four unearned runs to the Grasshoppers against relievers Aaron Jackson and Coby Mavroulis.

Hagerstown would not go quietly, as Trevor Lawhorn led off with a double and Jonathan Castro reached on an infield single. After Robby Jacobsen and Mike Martinez struck out, Francisco Plasencia delivered an RBI single into center field, driving in Lawhorn. Castro then scored the tying run, as Greensboro shortstop Guillermo Martinez could not handle Marcos Cabrals ground ball.

The first pitch of the 10th inning doomed the Suns, however, as Spike McDougal hit the first pitch he saw for a home run down the right field line.

The Suns rallied again in the bottom of the 10th, but with two outs Jonathan Castro was called out on a very close play at the plate to end the game.

Coby Mavroulis was saddled with the loss, allowing three runs in 1.2 innings pitched. Only one of the three runs was earned.

Blake Jones earned the win for Greensboro, pitching two scoreless innings.

Yunior Novoa had a very good start for Hagerstown, pitching five innings, allowing four hits and only one unearned run while striking out seven Grasshoppers.

Tom Cowley started for Greensboro, pitching six innings and allowing three runs. Neither starting pitcher factored in the decision.

Hagerstown ended an eightgame road trip Wednesday with their third straight win, defeating the Kannapolis Intimidators 12-7 Wednesday at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis, N.C.

The Suns won behind a 5-run top of the second inning, highlighted by doubles from Trevor Lawhorn, Marcos Cabral and Joe Napoli. Patrick Nichols and Francisco Plasencia both walked and scored in the inning, while Plasencia also stole his fourth base of the season.

One run in the fourth along with three in both the fifth and seventh provided more than enough support for the Suns pitching staff.

Zach Baldwin (4-3) earned the win, lasting five innings, allowing five earned runs while striking out five batters and walking just one. Chris Lugo recorded his fourth save of the season, pitching the final four innings and allowing only one run.

Francisco Plasencia hit his 12th home run of the season for Hagerstown while Joe Napoli chipped in with three doubles in the game. Plasencia leads all active Suns with 12 home runs on the year, one ahead of Napoli.

Hagerstown defeated the Kannapolis Intimidators 14-11 Tuesday night from Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium. Jhonatan Solano went 3- 5 with six RBI.

The game lasted three hours and 17 minutes, putting the total time of play for the last two nights for the Intimidators and the Suns at seven hours and four minutes.

When the two teams scored Tuesday night, the runs came in bunches.

The Intimidators scored six runs on three hits in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead. Suns starter Jeff Mandel hit two batters, walked another, and gave up two singles and a three-run home run to John Shelby to account for the six runs.

Hagerstown bounced back in the top of the fifth to score five runs (one earned) off Kannapolis starter Carlos Perez to cut the Kannapolis lead to one. The Suns batted around as they banged out five hits, highlighted by a Solano two-run single.

In the sixth, the Suns batted around once again helped out by LHP Joe Torres. Torres allowed four walks in .2 innings and Hagerstown led 9-6 after the top of the sixth. The Suns pushed the lead to 13-6 with four more runs in the seventh, with Solano crushing his third homer of the year to plate three.

The Intimidators, after giving up 13 straight runs, decided to show a little fight, getting five runs in the bottom of the seventh off of Suns relievers Coby Mavroulis and Buzz Vargas. The big hit coming off of Chris Carter's bat, a majestic two-run home run off of Vargas.

The Suns added an insurance run in the ninth to claim a threerun victory. Reliever Josh Wilkie allowed just one hit in the final two innings and struck out three to earn his seventh save of the year.

Mandel (3-5) got the win, despite allowing six earned runs in five innings.

The Suns defeated the Intimidators 6-5 in 11 innings Monday night. Francisco Guzman's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning was the difference.

The Suns had leads of 4-1 and 5-2 going into the 9th inning with Yader Peralta looking for his 3rd save of the season.

Leading 5-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, things looked good for the Suns. Suns' reliever Yader Peralta had retired all four batters he had faced on just 12 pitches. But, the Intimidators were able to bat around in the ninth and tie things up.

With one out, Archie Gilbert singled to left. John Anderson added a single right behind him. Then, after a strikeout, Sergio Miranda drew a walk to load the bases. Miranda was lifted for pinch-runner Scotty Madsen. Anderson Gomes singled through the left side to bring in Gilbert and Anderson and cut the Suns lead to 5-4. John Shelby followed suit with a single of his own to tie things up. After Brandon Allen was intentionally walked, Lee Cruz came up. On an 0-2 pitch, Cruz poked a line drive off the end of the bat, that on contact, looked as if it would drop in front of center fielder Francisco Plasencia. Plasencia did not even have to move to haul it in and send the game to bonus action.

After a scoreless 10th inning,