Stanton Blasts Two Homeruns, Suns Win Sixth Straight
Jacksonville, Fla. - Michael Stanton finished four-for-four with two homeruns and four RBI leading the Jacksonville Suns (10-6) to their sixth consecutive victory, an 8-2 win over the Carolina Mudcats (6-11) in front of 2,520 Sunday afternoon at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Suns starter Tom Koehler (3-0) allowed one earned run and four hits over six innings of work for the winning decision. Mudcats starter Dallas Buck (1-3) allowed three earned runs over five and one-thirds innings for the loss.
Jacksonville opened the scoring in the first inning when Stanton belted a two-out, solo homerun to left-centerfield, his fifth of the season, opening a 1-0 score. Carolina immediately tied the score in the top of the second as Chris Denove hit the first pitch of the inning out to leftfield for a leadoff homerun, evening the game at 1-1.
The Suns broke the game open in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs while sending a season-best 12 runners to the plate.
Brandon Tripp led off the sixth with a triple and scored on a Matt Dominguez sacrifice fly to open the 2-1 lead. After walking Tim Torres, Buck left the game for reliever Sean Watson who allowed a Chris Hatcher single before hitting pinch hitter Jason Delaney with a pitch to load the bases. Watson next walked Lorenzo Scott to force home a run for a 3-1 lead. Ozzie Martinez next singled to centerfield to bring in Hatcher and Delaney for a 5-1 score. Michael Stanton next crushed a three-run homerun onto the left field lawn and broke open an 8-1 lead.
Carolina ended the scoring at 8-2 in the eighth inning on a Denis Phipps RBI double against Suns reliever Garrett Parcell.
Suns RH Alex Sanabia will face Mudcats RH Curtis Partch in game three of the series Monday at 11:05 a.m. School kids from around Duval County will attend this special morning, alcohol-free game. Tickets are available through the Suns box office at (904) 358-2846 or by visiting jaxsuns.com.
Suns starter Tom Koehler (3-0) allowed one earned run and four hits over six innings of work for the winning decision. Mudcats starter Dallas Buck (1-3) allowed three earned runs over five and one-thirds innings for the loss.
Jacksonville opened the scoring in the first inning when Stanton belted a two-out, solo homerun to left-centerfield, his fifth of the season, opening a 1-0 score. Carolina immediately tied the score in the top of the second as Chris Denove hit the first pitch of the inning out to leftfield for a leadoff homerun, evening the game at 1-1.
The Suns broke the game open in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs while sending a season-best 12 runners to the plate.
Brandon Tripp led off the sixth with a triple and scored on a Matt Dominguez sacrifice fly to open the 2-1 lead. After walking Tim Torres, Buck left the game for reliever Sean Watson who allowed a Chris Hatcher single before hitting pinch hitter Jason Delaney with a pitch to load the bases. Watson next walked Lorenzo Scott to force home a run for a 3-1 lead. Ozzie Martinez next singled to centerfield to bring in Hatcher and Delaney for a 5-1 score. Michael Stanton next crushed a three-run homerun onto the left field lawn and broke open an 8-1 lead.
Carolina ended the scoring at 8-2 in the eighth inning on a Denis Phipps RBI double against Suns reliever Garrett Parcell.
Suns RH Alex Sanabia will face Mudcats RH Curtis Partch in game three of the series Monday at 11:05 a.m. School kids from around Duval County will attend this special morning, alcohol-free game. Tickets are available through the Suns box office at (904) 358-2846 or by visiting jaxsuns.com.