Suns Shine Bright to Take Series Opener

SALISBURY, MD - Two teams headed in different directions found different results with the Hagerstown Suns rattling off their third straight victory 7-2 over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Saturday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Cameron Bishop (3-4) took the loss for the Shorebirds (25-14) after allowing four runs on six hits, striking out one and issuing no free passes in his six innings of work. Bishop has now started seven straight games with at least six inning pitched.
Nick Raquet (3-4) took home the victory for the Suns (14-25) after posting six innings of his own, allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits, one walk and six strikeouts on the evening. Kyle Johnston came in relief for Raquet and earned his second save of the year.
Hagerstown got going offensively right away in the top of the first inning with a lead off single from Cole Freeman, who quickly stole second base. Later in the inning, Anderson Franco come through with an RBI double to get the Sun on the board 1-0.
Delmarva was able to find the answer to the Sun offense in the home half of the first with a leadoff single from Kirvin Moesquit and double by Mason McCoy. Both later came around to score after Suns' third baseman Luis García had trouble fielding a Zach Jarrett groundball that zoomed past first and rolled into the Hagerstown dugout.
A big fourth inning allowed Hagerstown to regain the lead for good, though. After a Franco single and Nick Banks fielder's choice, three staight doubles from Branden Boggetto, Aldrem Corredor and Alex Flores plated three more runs for Hagerstown to pushed their lead to 4-2.
Looking to take advantage of some Raquet mistakes in the fifth inning, the Shorebirds had Jean Carillo work a one-out walk followed by a Max Hogan hit-by-pitch to put runners on first and second with one out in the inning. Raquet was then sent down Moesquit on strikes and got McCoy to ground out to short to strand the runners.
With Delmarva looking to have better success against Johnston in the bottom of the seventh, Will Robertson worked his way aboard with a lead-off walk, followed by a Jean Carrillo single. Johnston then proceeded to strike out the next three batters he faced in Max Hogan, Moesquit and McCoy to quell the 'Birds' offense.
Hagerstown again found a trio of runs, this time in the eighth inning, jumping on Shorebirds reliever Nick Vespi. Luis Garcia started off the inning with a lead-off single, advanced to second on a Yasel Antuna out and then came around to score on an Anderson Franco RBI double that just went over the head of Moesquit in centerfield. Boggetto came up next and lifted a deep drive to left field to tack on two more runs for the Suns.
Boggetto was the star for Hagerstown finishing the day 2-4 with a home run and three driven in. Franco finished 3-for-4 with a double, run and two RBIs.
Jarrett notched a multi-hit game with two singles, while Moesquit and McCoy each had a hit and a run.
The Shorebirds drop their second consecutive game and first of the season against Hagerstown. With the loss, Delmarva drops out of first in the South Atlantic League North after a Kannapolis win.
The Shorebirds will be right back to work on Sunday with a single-admission doubleheader against Hagerstown. Matthias Dietz (3-1, 3.94) will start the game one for Delmarva against the Suns' righty Tomas Alastre (1-1, 6.34), and Ryan Wilson (0-0, 1.38) will square off against Andrew Lee (0-0, 18.00) in game two. First pitch of game one is set for 12:35 p.m. with gates opening at 12:00 noon. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Chance Sisco jumbo baseball card. It's also is Hit the Books Game presented by Dr. James M. Crouse at The Brace Place, Kids Club Game presented by Maryland Excels, Perdue Strike Out Hunger Sunday presented by Perdue Foods and Kids Run the Bases presented by Chili's. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 12:20 with Will DeBoer and Drew Williams on the call.