Held Spins Gem, Meregildo Homers Twice in 7-0 Win

Hagerstown, MD -  Sam Held tossed seven shutout innings while Omar Meregildo homered twice as the Hagerstown Suns defeated the Columbia Fireflies 7-0 on Monday night at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are 22-31 in the second half and 49-72 overall and will play the series finale on Tuesday afternoon with a 2:05 PM first pitch.
The Suns scored first in the opening frame against Fireflies starter Tony Dibrell. With one out, Cole Freeman doubled to left and Jake Scudder singled to right, plating Freeman to give Hagerstown a 1-0 advantage.

Hagerstown added to their lead in the third against Dibrell. With one out, Armond Upshaw singled to left, stole second, and advanced to third on a ground out. Scudder followed with a single to right, scoring Upshaw to make it a 2-0 Suns lead.
The Suns scored two more runs in the fourth and sixth with Dibrell still on the mound for the Fireflies. Meregildo belted his fifth home run of the year to left field. The ball traveled 384 feet, extending the Hagerstown lead to 3-0. Meregildo homered to left again in the sixth to make it a 4-0 lead.
Hagerstown added to their lead in the seventh against Dibrell in his last inning of work. Juan Pascal was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Nick Choruby singled to right to put runners on the corners. Upshaw grounded into a fielder's choice while Pascal scored, extending the Suns lead to 5-0. Freeman doubled to left, plating Upshaw to make it a 6-0 ballgame and Scudder followed with a single to right, scoring Freeman to increase the Hagerstown lead to 7-0.
Columbia threatened in the ninth against Jared Johnson in his second inning of relief. David Miranda and Matt Winaker walked to lead off the inning, but Scott Manea followed by grounding into a double play while Miranda advanced to third. Zach Rheams walked to put runners at the corners, but Johnson got Edgardo Fermin to ground into a fielder's choice, retiring Rheams at second to end the game. The Suns shutout Columbia, snapping a three-game losing streak in the 7-0 win.
Held (5-6) spun a career-high seven scoreless innings while allowing two hits with a walk and five strikeouts in his second-career quality start. Johnson pitched the last two innings while giving up two hits with three walks, preserving the shutout for the Suns.
Notes:  Held set a new career-high with seven innings pitched… He earned his second quality start of his career… It's the 35^th for Suns starters in 2018… He allowed his first walk in five starts… His five strikeouts tied season and career highs… It's the third time he struck out five in an outing in his career…Scudder extended his hit streak to four games… He leads the team with 52 RBIs this season… He recorded his 16^th multi-hit game and his 12^th multi-RBI game of 2018… His three hits tied a season-high… It's the fourth time he accomplished this feat… Freeman extended his hitting streak to four games… He doubled twice which increased his multi-hit game total to 22… He also earned his seventh multi-RBI game… Meregildo extended his hit streak to eight games… He has 13 multi-hit games and seventh multi-RBI game of the year… With his two homers, he joined Franco (May 2 @ GBO) and Dunlap (July 27 @ LWD) as the only Suns in 2018 to have multi-homer games… Alex Dunlap logged his sixth multi-hit game of the season… Hagerstown will wrap up the season series and home stand with the series finale of the four-game set against Columbia Tuesday afternoon with a 2:05 PM first pitch… It's the final Antietam Tuesday of the season… Fans can take advantage of select $3 drafts… The Suns will send LHP Jackson Stoeckinger (2-5, 7.84 ERA) to the mound against Fireflies RHP Zac Grotz (2-5, 5.58 ERA)… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 1:55 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia tab and clicking on "Listen Live"... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio and MiLB First Pitch apps.
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