June 22, 2019—10:07 A.M.
KEVIN KAREL
A crowd of more than 4,000 strong on hand to enjoy Austin Riley Bobble-head night witnessed a rare blowout defeat for the Rome Braves Friday as Hagerstown beat the home team 14-7 at State Mutual Stadium.
The Suns offense scored in 7 of 9 innings in the game and flexed power against a Rome Braves pitching staff that’s been throwing well throughout the month of June.
Hagerstown jumped Rome starter RHP Odalvi Javier immediately with a run in the 1st inning and then grabbed three more tallies in the 2nd. Jacob Rhinesmith homered off Javier in the 3rd inning and Kyle Marinconz did the same in the 4th, making it 6-0 in favor of the visitors.
Rome got a rally going in the 5th, scoring three times against Suns starter RHP Joan Adon. Henry Quintero scored on a wild pitch and Jose Bermudez drove in Ricardo Rodriguez with an RBI groundout. Greg Cullen made it 6-3 with an RBI triple to deep left.
Hagerstown answered with an unearned run in the 6th inning and put the game out of reach with five runs in the 7th against the Braves bullpen
Rome got three back in the 8th on a bases-clearing three run double by Rodriguez to make it 12-6. The Suns would not allow Rome to get any closer and iced it with two more runs in the 9th inning.
Rodriguez finished his evening going 3-4 with a double and three RBI in his first start since being activated off the injured list. Cullen was 1-3 with a triple, two walks and an RBI. Javier took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing six runs on seven hits including two homers. He struck out three and walked two.
Rome and Hagerstown continue their four game series on Saturday evening at State Mutual Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm. Rome will start LHP Dilmer Mejia (3-1, 1.42) while Hagerstown will put RHP Francys Peguero (2-5, 2.54) on the mound.
Rome Braves (0-2, 30-41): 7 R 6 H 1 E
Hagerstown Suns (2-0, 32-40): 14 R 13 H 0 E
W: Joan Adon (6-2)
L: Odalvi Javier (2-4)
Time: 3:28
Attendance: 4,019
