HAGERSTOWN, MD (August 24, 2019) - The Suns dominated the Delmarva bats all day, but were forced to settle for a doubleheader split against the Shorebirds at Municipal Stadium Saturday. Tomas Alastre threw Hagerstown's (60-71, 30-31) first complete game of the season in their 5-1 game-one victory, but the Shorebirds (86-43, 38-22) took
HAGERSTOWN, MD (August 24, 2019) - The Suns dominated the Delmarva bats all day, but were forced to settle for a doubleheader split against the Shorebirds at Municipal Stadium Saturday.
Tomas Alastre threw Hagerstown's (60-71, 30-31) first complete game of the season in their 5-1 game-one victory, but the Shorebirds (86-43, 38-22) took game two 1-0 in extra innings.
The Suns faced the potential South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year in Grayson Rodriguez (L. 9-4), but it was Alastre (W, 5-12) who stole the show in this one. The Suns righty allowed just one run on two hits and struck out four over seven strong innings in the 5-1 game one victory. It was Hagerstown's first complete game of the season and the first since Brigham Hill August 5, 2018.
The Hagerstown offense got to work quickly against Rodriguez to provide some run support for Alastre. Jacob Rhinesmith led off the second inning with his ninth home run of the year to open the scoring. Later in the frame, Armond Upshaw produced an RBI single to give the Suns a 2-0 advantage.
Delmarva got its only run in the fourth on a Toby Welk RBI single, but the Suns tacked on some big insurance runs in the fifth. Hagerstown chased Rodriguez after putting runners on second and third with two down, and then came through against reliever Juan Echevarria. An Israel Pineda RBI infield single made it 3-1 and then Phil Caulfield's two-run double extended the lead.
Both teams failed to scored in regulation, but Delmarva got a run in the eighth that would be enough to win the game. With a runner at second and two down, Cody Roberts delivered an RBI single to put the Shorebirds on top. The run came against Alex Troop (L, 1-2) who had pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh, but couldn't get the big out in the eighth.
With the lead intact, Delmarva turned to Ruben Garcia (S, 8) who worked a scoreless eighth despite allowing a double to Cole Daily.
Pitching dominated game two as neither offense was able to get anything going early. Jackson Stoeckinger picked up right where Alastre left off and tossed five scoreless frames. The lefty struck out four and did not issue a walk in the ballgame.
On the other side, Ryan Wilson (W, 6-4) was just a little bit better for Delmarva. The lefty went seven scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while striking out five. Hagerstown's only rally against him came in the seventh when Rhinesmith and Nic Perkins worked back-to-back walks. However, Wilson got the final out to send the game to extras.
The Suns finish their three-game series with the Shorebirds tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. Hagerstown sends RHP Jake Irvin (6-8, 4.18 ERA) to hill while Delmarva counters with RHP Hector Guance (8-5, 4.08 ERA).
After concluding this series, the Suns will hit the road for four games in Kannapolis before returning home to Municipal Stadium to close out the season against the Lakewood BlueClaws August 30-September 2. For tickets or more information visit hagerstownsuns.com.
