Suns Fall to Intimidators 7-3 on Saturday

Kannapolis, NC - The Hagerstown Suns fell 7-3 to the Kannapolis Intimidators on Saturday evening at Intimidators Stadium. The Suns drop to 9-20 overall and will play the third game of the four-game set on Sunday afternoon at 3:35 PM.

Kannapolis scored in the first inning with a pair of runs against Suns starter Carlos Acevedo. Nolan Brown singled to center and went to second when Laz Rivera singled to left. With one out, Anthony Villa singled on a ground ball to center field to plate Brown and Rivera, giving the Intimidators a 2-0 advantage. Tate Blackman singled, moving Villa to second, but Acevedo got Justin Yurchak to ground into an inning-ending double play to get out of the inning.
The Intimidators extended their lead against the Suns and Acevedo in the fourth. Evan Skoug homered on the second pitch of the inning, bashing the ball to right-center field. The long-ball was Skoug's fourth of the year and gave Kannapolis a 3-0 lead.
Hagerstown got on the board in the fifth against Intimidators starter John Parke. Nick Banks singled to center, but Branden Boggetto grounded into a double play to record two outs. Kameron Esthay tripled to left and scored when Alex Flores doubled to left and brought the Suns within a pair, 3-1.
Steven Fuentes entered in the sixth inning for the Suns, but Kannapolis scored a pair of runs to further their lead. With one out Johan Cruz walked and went to second when Brown singled to left. Rivera struck out to record the second out of the inning, but Craig Dedelow singled to right and Cruz scored to extend Kannapolis' lead to 4-1. Villa doubled to left, driving in both Brown and Dedelow to make it a 6-1 game.
The Suns scored a pair of runs without recoding a hit in the top of the eighth against relievers Zach Lewis and Tyler Johnson. Armond Upshaw worked a one-out walk and with two outs a wild pitch moved him to second. Luis Garcia walked as did Yasel Antuna to load the bases. Johnson entered the game out of the bullpen and issued four-pitch walks to both Anderson Franco and Nick Banks, plating two runs to bring Hagerstown within three at 6-3. Boggetto flew out to right field, ending the inning and the threat.
A pair of two-out hits against Fuentes tacked on an extra insurance run for Kannapolis in the eighth. Rivera singled to center field and came around to score when Dedelow tripled to center, extending the Intimidators lead to 7-3, the final score.
Acevedo (0-2) worked 5.0 innings in a loss, allowing three runs one 10 hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Fuentes made his second appearance of the season, allowing four runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts over three innings of work.
Notes: Esthay recorded his second multi-hit game of the season… Garcia has a five-game hit streak… He's also scored a run in four of his last five games… Banks had hit safely in his last five games as well… Sundberg struck out five times, a new career-high… Acevedo tied a career high with five innings pitched… His five strikeouts ties his season high from April 29 against the Rome Braves… The Suns take on the Kannapolis Intimidators on Sunday for the third game in a four-game series with a 3:35 PM first pitch… Hagerstown will send RHP Jackson Tetreault (0-2, 7.88 ERA) to the hill against Intimidators LHP Parker Rigler (1-1, 1.80 ERA).
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