Crawdads

Jeff Landing got in five holes on Tuesday. That would have been great if he was playing golf. It isn't so great since he was the starting pitcher for the Hagerstown Suns. Landing allowed the leadoff batter to reach in each of his five innings and German Marte added a sixth occasion to help ignite the Hickory offense and lift the Crawdads to a 7-3 win at Municipal Stadium and send the Suns to their fourth straight loss. Hickory only cashed in on three of the six occasions, which may not be par for the course, but in baseball, .500 is a great average.

The Hagerstown Suns' march to a playoff berth was slowed like it met the Ides of March. On Monday, the Suns went in with a lion, but were taken out by a Lamb. Pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals' young lion, made his third rehabilitation start in Hagerstown, but Hickory starter Will Lamb stole the spotlight with five innings of one-hit pitching to lead the Crawdads to a 3-1 victory before 1,652 fans at Municipal Stadium. For his second straight outing, Strasburg had an elevated pitch count in the first inning and fell behind as he threw 60 pitches in three innings in his fourth overall outing in his comeback from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery.

Ivan Pineyro found a way to escape becoming a victim of Hickory's home run hitters. Don't let the Crawdads hit the ball. Pineyro struck out 12 of the 18 Hickory hitters who went down swinging over six innings as the Hagerstown Suns notched a 3-0 victory on a chilly, wet Sunday before 553 fans at Municipal Stadium. Pineyro (1-2) had his best outing of the season, punching out a dozen on 75 pitches, while allowing three hits - all doubles - and two walks. David Fischer pitched the final three innings - getting the first six outs on whiffs - to pick up his second save, while closing out the five-hit shutout.

andrear@herald-mail.com Tri-State-area fireworks displays will light up the night to celebrate the stars and stripes for Independence Day. On Friday, July 2: Boonsboro's annual Independence Day celebration will begin at 6 p.m. at Shafer Memorial Park, just off Main Street, with fireworks slated to start at 9:30 p.m. The rain date is Saturday, July 3. Fireworks will cap off the Hagerstown Suns' game against the...

bobp@herald-mail.com In a matter of 10 pitches, the Hagerstown Suns went from Indian givers to ticket givers. That's the same amount of pitches it took for Suns starter Brian Burres to go from the top of his game to the showers. The Suns entered the pitching black hole called the fifth inning with a two-run lead and left looking for answers Tuesday, as Hickory used eight hits and a sacrifice bunt en route to a six-run rally and a 7-3 victory on Guaranteed Win night at Municipal Stadium.

HAGERSTOWN -- It's showtime for the Hagerstown Suns. Opening Day notwithstanding, today's 6:30 p.m. game at Municipal Stadium with Hickory is important only because it allows this year's Suns to start to show if this is their time to advance as professional baseball players. "We have some players who will have a chance to show what they can do," said Hagerstown manager Matt LeCroy, who starts his second year with the team. "Now they have their chance. They have to get out there and start doing it. " The first pitcher out to prove he belongs will be Daniel Rosenbaum, who draws the Opening Day start.

Apparently, turnabout is fair play for the Hagerstown Suns. Even if it's not, they honestly don't care if it gets them a win. Sunday - finally - it was Hagerstown, and not the opposition, getting the two-out hits, making the tough pitches on the mound and taking advantage of the bounces for a much-needed 6-1 victory over Hickory. "It's a funny game," Hagerstown second baseman Derin McMains said. "We just had to get back to the fact that we've got the best job in the world playing baseball and not get so stressed out over who's going to make the next mistake.

bobp@herald-mail.com Russ Triplett rocked. Michael Devaney rolled. And the Hagerstown Suns got themselves a rare encore. It was everything short of burning lighters in the stands as Triplett's clutch RBI triple in the fourth inning gave Devaney and Hagerstown's bullpen all it needed Tuesday for a 1-0 victory over Hickory for a second consecutive win for the Suns. Devaney locked into a pitchers' duel with Hickory's Romulo Santana in game where each got into a flow.

For one swing, what Brett McMillian lacked in physical power he made up in brain power. Even at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, it's not a matter of how hard you hit it more than if it hits the ground untouched when you do. Hagerstown's first baseman launched a 150-foot shot down the left-field line to drive home Mike Daniel with two outs in the eighth inning to lift the Suns to a 2-1 decision over Hickory for their first victory of the season and...

Lately, the Hagerstown Suns have been playing like guys who get paid by salary. When the big moment of the game strikes, the Suns have been off the clock. The defining moment of the night came and went on Thursday, and the Suns were at the water cooler again. This time, the inability to respond to the call resulted in a 5-1 loss to Hickory and a sixth straight defeat. "It's not a case that we are playing badly," Suns manager Frank Cacciatore said. "But the moment hasn't been coming when we make that big pitch or get that big two-out hit. It just hasn't been there.