Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Suns Winning Streak Ends at Five

Hagerstown falls to Greensboro as series evens
Jacob Rhinesmith hit his seventh home run of the season in Hagerstown's loss to Greensboro Tuesday. (Abby Choi/Hagerstown Suns)
July 16, 2019

GREENSBORO, NC (July 16, 2019) - The Suns could not overcome two big innings from the Greensboro offense as they fell to the Grasshoppers 9-3 at First National Bank Field Tuesday.The big innings came with four runs in the first and four runs in the fifth against Suns (40-55, 10-15) starter

GREENSBORO, NC (July 16, 2019) - The Suns could not overcome two big innings from the Greensboro offense as they fell to the Grasshoppers 9-3 at First National Bank Field Tuesday.
The big innings came with four runs in the first and four runs in the fifth against Suns (40-55, 10-15) starter Francys Peguero (L, 2-8) as the Grasshoppers (58-36, 14-11) broke Hagerstown's five-game winning streak.

The four runs in the first gave Greensboro the lead, but not before the Suns had the initial advantage. Jacob Rhinesmith hit his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot to center that put Hagerstown up 2-0. But that was all for the Suns against Grasshoppers starter Luis Nova (W, 4-2), who went 5.2 innings and struck out six.
Greensboro got the runs back in the bottom of the first on a two-run double off the bat of Fabricio Macias. Luke Mangieri followed that up with a two-RBI homer to give the Grasshoppers a 4-2 lead.
Peguero was strong on the mound for the next three innings, but things started to balloon again in the fifth. Connor Kaiser hit a home run with one away, and then after an error, Mangieri launched his second long ball of the game. This one was a two-out, two-run shot to put Greensboro up 7-2. The next batter was Grant Koch, and he went back-to-back with Mangieri to extend the Grasshoppers lead.
Peguero finished the full five innings but allowed five earned runs, eight in total, on nine hits. It was only the second time this season that the right-hander had allowed at least five earned runs in a start. The only other occassion was April 13 against Asheville when Peguero also allowed five earned runs over five innings of work. 
Matt Cronin was the first reliever out of the bullpen for the Suns in the sixth. The lefty struck out the first two batters he faced but did allow an RBI single to Macias later in the frame. Alex Troop replaced Cronin in the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames while picking up a couple of strikeouts. Four of Troop's five appearances between Auburn and Hagerstown this season have now been scoreless. 
The Grasshoppers went to Cam Alldred out of the bullpen after Nova, and he worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Cristofer Melendez came on in the ninth and uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs that allowed Armond Upshaw to score. However, the Suns rally ended there and the Grasshoppers were able to even the three-game series. 
These two teams finish up their three-game set tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. at First National Bank Field. Hagerstown sends RHP Tomas Alastre (3-9, 6.00 ERA) to the bump, while Greensboro utilizes righty Osvaldo Bido (10-5, 3,67 ERA).
The Suns return home for a four-game series with the Hickory Crawdads July 18-21. The homestand is littered with promotions from a Jimmy Buffett-themed Thirsty Thursday, an Early Halloween Party, Friday, Wrestling Night, with an appearance from Bob Backlund before we wrap up the homestand with a Kids Sunday Funday.