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Generals drop second straight to close out first half

June 15, 2014

JACKSON, TENN. (JUNE 15, 2014) - The Jacksonville Suns (36-34) bats exploded for the second day in a row as they take the first half finale 10-4 over the Generals (31-38) Sunday at the Ballpark in Jackson. Jay Rogers (2-2, 5.32) gave his club a great start and former General Rich Poythress, among others, came through at the plate as the Suns tallied 10 runs on 12 hits in the win. Despite the loss the Generals won three of five in the series and the 10 meetings between the two clubs were split 5-5.

The game began as a pitcher's duel as it was the third inning before anyone dented the scoreboard. Jackson was the first to plate a run as Leon Landry (2x4, R) singled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ketel Marte (1x3, RBI) to take the 1-0 lead.

But the Suns bats warmed up in the top of the fourth. Joe Benson doubled with one out and Brady Shoemaker followed with a walk. They both came around to score on Austin Barnes's double, then Barnes scored on the first home run of the year by Wilfredo Gimenez and it was quickly 4-1 Jacksonville.

The Suns added to their lead in the fifth after loading the bases with no outs. Benson grounded into a force out that scored Alfredo Lopez and Brent Keys crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to increase the Jacksonville lead to 6-1.

With one out and one on in the sixth Patrick Kivlehan (2x4, R, 3B, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 12 games and the Southern League's longest active on base streak to 24 games with an RBI triple. Dan Paolini (1x4, R) scored on the play and the lead was cut to 6-2. Kivlehan crossed the plate on a double by Jack Marder (2x4, R, HR, 2 RBI) and the Generals were back in the game down just 6-3.

Jacksonville added another run in the eighth inning when Benson scored his second run of the game on an RBI single by Barnes to extend their lead to 7-3. They plated another run in the ninth when Benson grounded into a fielder's choice and Keys came in from third. Two more runs scored when Barnes doubled to bring in Benson and former General Rich Poythress and the lead was 10-3.

Marder added his fourth home run of the season and third against the Suns in the ninth inning to finish off the scoring for the 10-4 final.

Rogers picked up the win with 6.0 strong innings surrendering only three runs on eight hits. Trevor Miller (4-7, 5.05) lost for the fourth time in his last four decisions as he gave up six runs on five hits in 5.1 innings.

Jamal Austin (2x5) extended his hitting streak to a team high 14 games and Landry extended his current streak to eight games in the loss.

The Generals will be off for the next three days as the Southern League All-Star break approaches. The second half begins Thursday when Jackson travels to Mississippi to take on the Braves at Trustmark Park. Lefty Tyler Olson (3-2, 3.80) will look to be on the mound for Jackson in game one of the five-game set which will be at 7:00 p.m. and can be heard on 96.5 ESPN, TuneIn Radio and jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.