Suns Scorch Shorebirds, 5-4

Hagerstown, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds surrendered an early lead as Hagerstown completed a three-game sweep with a 5-4 win on Wednesday night. With a five-run fifth inning, the Suns pushed their division lead to six games as Delmarva fell to 34-25 on the year.

Mike Yastrzemski led off the game with a triple hooked down the right field corner on the first pitch. After his league-best ninth triple of the year, Yastrzemski scored on an RBI single by Dosch later in the first inning.

The Shorebirds built on their first lead of the series with two runs in the third. Delmarva loaded the bases with no outs for Drew Dosch. The Shorebirds third baseman brought home another run on an RBI fielder's choice. Trey Mancini followed with an RBI single on a line drive to left-center. Mancini extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and he has also reached base safely in 27 straight contests.

With Hunter Harvey on the mound, Delmarva looked in good shape to avoid a sweep. Harvey worked around trouble in the first inning, cruising through four scoreless frames. Hagerstown finally broke through in a big way in the fifth. The Suns strung together five consecutive two-out base knocks to score five runs, highlighted by John Wooten's go-ahead two-run home run.

Now trailing 5-3, Delmarva found themselves with their backs against the wall. The Shorebirds responded with a rally in the eighth, but fell just short. With two runners on, Anthony Vega bounced a double down the first base line. Mancini scored, and Bierfeldt tried to scamper home after the throw came to second base. Suns' shortstop Wilmer Difo whipped the ball to catcher Spencer Kieboom just in time to prevent the tying run from scoring. Vega was eventually stranded on third base, representing the tying run.

Jake Walsh closed out the victory for Hagerstown, recording his sixth save. Austin Voth improved to 3-3 with the win for the Suns. Harvey suffered his fourth defeat of the season, now 3-4.

Delmarva will return home for a four-game series with the Lakewood BlueClaws. Left-hander Mitch Horacek (3-5, 2.64) will open the series for the Shorebirds against Lakewood right-hander Tyler Viza (2-6, 4.66). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Perdue Stadium.