The Force is Strong With Suns in 5-4 Win

AUGUSTA, S.C. (May 4, 2019) - Starter Jake Irvin  rebounded from a tough start last week with a quality start to propel the Suns to a 5-4 victory of the Augusta GreenJackets at SRP Park Saturday night.
Irvin (W, 1-3) gave up nine runs in just one inning of work April 28 against the Greensboro Grasshoppers, but his approach was much different against Augusta (14-13). The righty pounded the strike zone, throwing 69 pitches, 47 for strikes across six innings where he allowed just two runs to score.

The offense jumped out to support their starter in the first, as Cody Wilson singled and Kyle Marinconz walked to open the game. After that, Jacob Rhinesmith and Gilbert Lara hit back-to-back base knocks to drive in Wilson and Marinconz to give the Suns (13-16) a 2-0 lead. On a pop-up from Omar Meregildo, third baseman Wander Franco made a throwing error that allowed Rhinesmith to come home and put the Suns in front 3-0.
The single from Lara pushed his hitting streak to 19-games, the longest streak in Major or Minor League Baseball this year. The last Hagerstown Sun to earn a 20-game hitting streak was Jeff Maloney, who hit in 20-consecutive games from July 18-August 8, 1999. Since his streak began April 14, Lara is 29-for-81 (.358 average), with 11 extra-base hits and 16 RBI. To put those numbers in perspective, only 13 players in the South Atlantic League have more than 16 RBI and merely 11 have more than 11 extra-base hits this entire season.
While Augusta added a run in the bottom off the second off a Frankie Tostado homer to left, his fifth of the season, the Suns offense was able to hold the GreenJackets at bay, adding two more runs in the seventh. 
Jamori Blash got the ball rolling with a one out single on the third base side of the field before Trey Vickers drilled his second homer of the season beyond the left center fence to increase Hagerstown's lead to 5-2.
Following the offensive fireworks, Jackson Stoeckinger (S, 1) navigated through 2.1 scoreless innings to send the the Suns home with their third consecutive victory.
Hagerstown continues their four-game series with the GreenJackets, with first pitch set for 2:05 p.m. at SRP Park. RHP Francys Peguero (1-1, 2.67 ERA) gets the nod for Hagerstown and Augusta counters with RHP Jake Wong (2-1, 2.78 ERA).
The Suns return to Municipal Stadium to face the Lakewood BlueClaws in a three-game set May 8-10. Wednesday, May 8 is Bark in the Park night. Bring out your four legged friend to enjoy nine innings of Suns baseball at Municipal Stadium with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. Next, it's a regular Thirsty Thursday with beer specials starting at just $2.00. Finally, the homestand will conclude May 10 with 70's Night at Municipal Stadium. For tickets or more information, visit hagerstownsuns.com or call 301-791-6266.