Suns rally, but come up short

May 23, 2004

The Hagerstown Suns went "Blam" and "Bang" long before their first fireworks display went "Boom."Lakewood scored 13 runs in the first five innings before the Suns mounted a seven-run comeback that fell short on Saturday in the BlueClaws' 13-9 victory before 3,246 fans at Municipal Stadium.

Lakewood jumped on Hagerstown starter Bryan Millikan (1-3) for five runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings to stake itself to an early lead and put the Suns in chase mode for the rest of the game.

Randy Ruiz led Lakewood with three hits and five RBI, which tied a franchise record. Ruiz had a single, double and a two-run home run to pace the Blue Claws.

The Suns fell behind 5-0 before scoring two runs in the second against starter Kyle Kendrick (3-4). Jon Coutlangus had an RBI single to score Mike Wagner. Jesse Schmidt followed with the help of a throwing error.

Ruiz ignited Lakewood's six-run fifth inning with a two-run double.

The Suns (17-25) began their comeback with Nate Schierholtz's two-run home run in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 13-4. It was Schierholtz's 12th home run of the season, which leads the South Atlantic League.

Coutlangus drove in Hagerstown's fifth run with a grounder in the sixth, which scored Schmidt.

Hagerstown had its chance to tie the game in the eighth when it loaded the bases with none out, but managed only four runs. Coutlangus and Travis Ishikawa stroked RBI singles before Schierholtz grounded into what looked to be a double play.

Ishikawa was out at second, but Schierholtz reached on a throwing error, which scored Jay Knowlton and Coutlangus.

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