Suns move over .500 with win over Delmarva

HAGERSTOWN, MD - The Hagerstown Suns (6-5) moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season following a 5-1 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds (5-6) on Monday night. The win was the third in-a-row for the Suns, which is their longest winning streak this season.

 

Four of the five Suns runs were unearned on Monday. The first unearned run crossed the plate in the first inning. Designated hitter Alec Keller led off with a ground ball single to left. He then stole second, and with two outs, 1B Grant DeBruin reached on a throwing error by Delmarva SS Jared Breen, which allowed Keller to score all the way from second and make it 1-0.

 

The Suns upped their lead to 2-0 in the second. Hagerstown SS David Masters drew a walk to start the frame. Then, 2B Osvaldo Abreu hit a groundball to first, which 1B Riley Palmer mishandled as he turned to try to throw towards second. That allowed Masters to get safely to second and Abreu to make it to first. Masters advanced home from second on back-to-back fly outs to left field to increase the lead.

 

The final three Hagerstown runs were brought home in the fourth. With runners on second and third and one out, Shorebirds SS Jared Breen made a fielding error on a ground ball, which allowed pinch runner Jose Marmolejos to score from third and Abreu to advance to third. Abreu then scored on a sacrifice fly, and later in the inning CF Dale Carey doubled home a run to cap off the Suns scoring for the night.

 

The lone Delmarva run crossed the plate in the ninth. Designated hitter Alex Murphy led off with a triple to right field. He scored when the next batter, LF Connor Bierfeldt, grounded out to third. That ended a string of 17 straight innings the Suns had held their opponent scoreless.

 

Starting RHP Austen Williams (2-1) threw the first six innings for Hagerstown to earn the win. He surrendered just three hits and one walk while striking out six. LHP R. C. Orlan pitched the other three innings for the Suns to pick up his second save of the year. Starting LHP Bennett Parry (0-1) was charged for all five Suns runs as he suffered the loss. He gave up those five runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three in five innings.

 

These teams continue their three-game series at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday April 21. The Suns will send LHP Connor Bach (0-0) to the mound for his third start of the season. He will square off against LHP Brian Gonzalez (1-0) for Delmarva. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm.