Game #109 Preview
Game #109 — Home Game #51
Hagerstown Suns (49–59, 19–19) vs Rome Braves (49–59, 19–20)
Thursday, August 1–7:05 p.m.
Municipal Stadium (Hagerstown, MD)
MENDOZA CAPS OFF WIN WITH WALK-OFF
Drew Mendoza delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Suns a 5–4 win over the Rome Braves at Municipal Stadium Wednesday. With Armond Upshaw at second base and two outs in the ninth, Mendoza grounded a single through the right side, scoring Upshaw and giving the Suns (49–59, 19–19) their seventh consecutive victory. The run came against Rome (49–59, 19–20) reliever Gabriel Noguera (L, 4–5), who had been solid through 3.2 innings, but issued a lead-off walk in the inning that came back to bite him. The Suns were one out away from victory in the top of the ninth, but Rome was able to tie the game. After Ryan Williamson (W, 3–0) allowed two singles to put runners on the corners, Justin Dean delivered an RBI knock with two strikes and two outs to even the score. Hagerstown took a late lead that put them in the lead heading into the ninth, but couldn’t hold it. With two on and two outs in the seventh, Jacob Rhinesmith lined a two-RBI double off the wall in right field to give the Suns a 4–3 lead. The Braves wasted no time getting on the scoreboard against Suns starter Jake Irvin. Dean led-off the game with a home run — the first leadoff long ball Hagerstown has allowed this season. After losing the lead in the bottom of the first, Rome took it back with two more runs in the second. After a leadoff walk, Griffin Benson sent a two-run home run over the centerfield fence to put the Braves up 3–2.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
Hagerstown sends RHP Reid Schaller (1–1, 4.01 ERA) to the hill, while Rome counters with RHP Jose Olague (8–6, 3.66 ERA).
Schaller will make his second consecutive start against Rome. The righty spun five scoreless frames and allowed only allowed one hit. Olague will make his third start against Hagerstown this season. He has allowed four earned runs in 13.1 innings over the previous two outings.
Suns Starters:
Jackson Cluff-SS
Justin Connell-LF
Drew Mendoza-1B
Jacob Rhinesmith-RF
Israel Pineda-C
Phil Caulfield-DH
Cole Daily-2B
Trey Vickers-3B
Armond Upshaw-CF
Reid Schaller-RHP
GAME NOTES:
IRKING IRVIN: Jake Irvin’s stellar second half continued last night. The Oklahaoma-product produced his fourth quality start in five appearances in the second half. His second half ERA is 3.40, compared to a 5.11 ERA in the first half of the season. He has dazzled in his last two outings against Rome, fanning 13 batters in 12 innings and allowing just three runs in the span.
MIGHTY MENDOZA: Infielder Drew Mendoza has been on a tear to start his South Atlantic League career. The Nationals 7th-ranked prospect according to MLB.com has reached safely in 21 of his first 25 games as a member of the Hagerstown Suns. Wednesday night the Florida State-product earned his first four-hit performance of the season, the eighth for the 2019 Hagerstown team. He capped it off with a walk-off single to right in the ninth. Funny enough, the last Sun to have a four-hit game, Armond Upshaw, who did so July 21, also earned his fourth hit of the game with a walk-off single. Mendoza has a .313 batting average to go along with a .404 on-base percentage that has been guided by a gaudy 13 walks in 99 at-bats this season.
ALL I DO IS WIN-WIN: Joan Adon won his team-leading ninth game last night. The last Suns player to have 10 or more wins in a single season while donning a Suns uniform was McKenzie Mills, who accomplished the feat in 2017. Adon has now earned a win in three consecutive starts for the first time this season. The righty is tied with Rome’s Alan Rangel for the second-most wins in the South Atlantic League this season, trailing just Osvaldo Bido , who has 11 for the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
IN THE VANN, AWAY FROM HOME: This season, Christian Vann has inherited 14 runners in 12 games. The 25th-round draftee has stranded all, but one of them (93%) on the basepaths. On average, Suns relievers strand 66% of inherited runners, the next-closest mark to Vann came from Aaron Fletcher, who stranded five of six inherited runners. Earlier this week, Fletcher, another lefty, made his Eastern-League debut with the Harrisburg Senators.
ON THE AIR: Suns home games and select road games can be heard at bit.ly/SunsRadio where John Kocsis Jr. and Connor Newcomb bring you the call, beginning with the Suns pre-game show at 6:50 p.m.
