Suns Fall 6-0 in Second-Straight Shutout on Wednesday

Lakewood, NJ - The Hagerstown Suns were shut out for the second-straight night by the Lakewood BlueClaws on Wednesday, falling 6-0 at FirstEnergy Park. Hagerstown is 24-40 overall and will play the series finale against Lakewood on Thursday with a 7:05 PM first pitch.

Lakewood scored in the first inning against Hagerstown All-Star starter Nick Raquet to take an early lead on Wednesday. With one out, Nick Maton doubled to right and scored when Jhailyn Ortiz doubled to left-center field. Jake Scheiner sent a ground-rule double into the right-field corner to score Ortiz and give the BlueClaws a 2-0 advantage.
The BlueClaws extended their lead against Raquet in the third by tacking on another run. Ortiz led off with a single to left and Scheiner again doubled to right, scoring Ortiz and putting Lakewood up 3-0. Schiener eventually went to third, but was thrown out at the plate by Cole Freeman after Daniel Brito hit a ground ball with the infield in. Gregori Rivero struck out to end the inning and the threat with the Suns trailing 3-0.
Lakewood scored a pair against Raquet in the fourth for an even larger lead. Josh Stephen led off with a single to right and stole second. With one out, Kevin Markham singled to right, driving in Stephen to extend the lead. Markham scored in the next at-bat when Maton tripled to right, making it a 5-0 Lakewood advantage. The BlueClaws added a run in the sixth and went on to win the game 6-0.
Raquet (4-6) went four innings in a loss where he allowed five runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts. Andrew Lee threw three innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Jared Brasher threw the eighth inning allowing two hits and a walk.
Notes: Raquet tied a career-high by allowing five runs… It was the third time in his career he's done so… Raquet lasted less than six innings in a start for the first time since May 4 against Kannapolis… Raquet picked off his first baserunner of the season… It's the sixth of the year for the Suns pitching staff… The Suns are scoreless over their last 22 innings of play… Hagerstown was shutout in back-to-back games for the first time since July of 2017… They were shutout by Charleston 6-0 on July 14 and Lexington 2-0 on July 16 in seven innings… The Suns conclude their four-game series against the Lakewood BlueClaws on Thursday with a 7:05 PM first pitch… The Suns will send RHP Kyle Johnston (0-2, 3.31 ERA) to the mound against Lakewood LHP Kyle Young (1-3, 2.45 ERA) … Thursday night's broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:50 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia and "Listen Live"... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio App.
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