Plays at the Plate Cost Suns in Eleven-Inning Loss
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Suns runners were thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings on Sunday afternoon before the Kannapolis Intimidators (24-32, 63-61) took the lead with a sac fly RBI in the eleventh to hand Hagerstown (29-25, 67-56) a 3-2 loss and keep the Suns two games behind the first-place Hickory Crawdads and Greensboro Grasshoppers with 14 games remaining in the South Atlantic League regular season.
Anderson Franco drove a one-out double to the wall in the bottom of the tenth but failed to score on a single to center field by Branden Boggetto when the cutoff man, second baseman Mitch Roman, turned and threw to the plate after Franco stumbled around third base and catcher Casey Schroeder applied the tag for the out.
The Suns had another chance to walk it off in the tenth. Angelo La Bruna pulled an RBI double to left before J.B. Olson (Win, 1-0) threw a wild pitch and issued a pair of intentional walks to load the bases with nobody out. Hagerstown failed to score as Aldrem Corredor flew out to left but not deep enough to score La Bruna, Tres Barrera grounded to short where Grant Massey threw home for a forecourt, and Nick Banks grounded out the leave the bases jammed.
Phil Morse (Loss, 0-2) struck out five Intimidators during two innings of relief but Roman sparked a one-man rally with one out in the top of the eleventh. Following a single to left, Roman stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Zach Remillard flew the go-ahead sacrifice to left that gave Kannapolis a 3-2 advantage.
Hagerstown starter Brigham Hill took the no-decision in his fourth start with the Suns after setting a new career high with seven strikeouts in six innings. He allowed six hits and a pair of earned runs on an RBI double by Alex Call in the third and a game-tying solo homer by Schroeder in the fifth.
Hayden Howard tossed three scoreless innings with two hits allowed and a strikeout. The Intimidators put go-ahead runners in scoring position against him twice but Howard used a strong pickoff move and base running mistakes by Kannapolis to keep the game tied 2-2 through the end of the ninth.
Carter Kieboom gave the Suns a 2-1 lead in the third on his first home run in Hagerstown since May 7. Kieboom finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and Boggetto went 2-for-5 with his first double in three games for the Suns.
On Monday, the Suns host the final regular season meeting with the Intimidators. Hagerstown right-handed starter Weston Davis (4-4, 5.94) goes to the mound at 7:05 p.m. against Kannapolis righty Luis Martinez (7-1, 3.45). It's Belly Buster Monday at Municipal Stadium with all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, and chips. Tickets start at $16 and are available by calling (301) 791-6266 or visiting hagerstownsuns.com.