Disabled List

bobp@herald-mail.com For the Hagerstown Suns, auditions are over. It's time to get down to business. The first half is over. So is the jockeying for position and learning how to play the game. Today, the South Atlantic League season opens the second half following its three-day All-Star break. And that's a good sign for the Suns. "We start with a clean slate (today)," Suns manager Mike Ramsey said. "Every team that doesn't win the first half looks at it that way, but I think we could be good in the second half.

Shaky pen sends Suns to loss Hagerstown Suns Jeff Clark (4-2, 2.77) at Lakewood BlueClaws Keith Bucktrot (3-2, 5.58) 6:35 WHAG 1410 LAKEWOOD, N.J. - The bullpen which carried the Hagerstown Suns to victory on Saturday went AWOL on Sunday. Four Hagerstown relievers allowed seven runs on five hits in the final two innings - including six runs in the eighth inning - to allow the Lakewood BlueClaws to come back for a 9-5 victory.

bobp@herald-mail.com On Wednesday, the Hagerstown Suns had one of those games manager Mike Ramsey hoped "they got it out of their system all at one time. " On Thursday, the Suns had some lingering effects or a full-blown epidemic. A day after scoring 12 runs, the Asheville Tourists took full advantage of the Suns' hospitality by scoring in five of the first six innings en route to a 17-5 rout at Municipal Stadium. Asheville (11-10) took advantage of some generous pitching and leaky defense to blow open a 5-5 game with three runs in the fourth and nine runs in the sixth.

The Hagerstown Suns dropped a four-game series in Asheville, N.C., and then had trouble on the way home prior to the start of a four-game series against West Virginia on Saturday. Two bus breakdowns forced the Suns' traveling party to hastily arrange an overnight stop in Winchester, Va. It was not until midday Saturday the first bus that broke down returned to pick up the team after the replacement bus broke down. Saturday's original start of 7:05 was moved to 7:45 and West Virginia responded with a 9-1 victory.

HAGERSTOWN -- Joe Leonard had three hits and five RBIs to lead the Rome Braves to a 9-6 victory over the Hagerstown Suns on Thursday at Municipal Stadium. Leonard hit a three-run home run in the first inning off Hagerstown starter Paul Demny for a 4-0 lead and capped the night with a two-run double in the seventh off reliever Kyle Morrison to make it 8-5. Hagerstown (8-13, 44-47) came back to take a 5-4 lead with a four-run third inning. The Suns got a run in the first on a Justin Bloxom single before rallying in the third, highlighted by a two-run single by Brett Newsome and an RBI single by J.P. Ramirez.

HOUSTON (AP) -- Carlos Lee hit a two-run home run, Wandy Rodriguez snapped his three-game losing streak and the Houston Astros beat the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Wednesday night. Rodriguez (3-7) pitched out of bases loaded jams in the fourth and fifth innings to secure his first victory since May 12. He struck out a season high eight over five innings. Lee hit his sixth homer of the season off John Lannan (2-3) in the third inning. He allowed eight hits and two earned runs in 6 1-3 innings.

At his dominant best until a shaky ninth inning, Roy Halladay held on to throw his first complete game of 2011, leading the Philadelphia Phillies past the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Wednesday night. Through eight shutout innings, Halladay (2-0) allowed only a pair of singles by Adam LaRoche, who talked his way back into Washington’s lineup despite a hurt groin. In the ninth, Halladay allowed four hits, including RBI singles by Laynce Nix and Danny Espinosa. But with two on, the two-time Cy Young Award winner ended the game by throwing six straight strikes to fan pinch-hitter Matt Stairs and Ivan Rodriguez, who argued the game-ending call at length.

Josh Thole had three RBIs, including a two-run double that put the Mets ahead in the sixth inning, and New York ran its winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 6-4 win over the Washington Nationals. Thole’s double to the corner was just beyond the reach of left fielder Michael Morse and brought home Jason Bay and Ike Davis, breaking a 3-3 tie. The hit came off lefty Doug Slaten, who entered to face Thole. Ryota Igarashi (1-0) struck out Jayson Werth to end the fifth inning.

Usually, the Hagerstown Suns lean on the  offense late in games. On Friday, the pitching gave the bats a rest. Suns pitching retired the last 14 players it faced to nail down a 5-1 victory over Delmarva, making Cutter Dykstra's first-inning home run stand up as the game-winning hit. Starter Wilkin Estevez and relievers Ben Hawkins and Alex Kreis combined for 4 2/3 hitless innings to end the two-hit victory. The victory keeps the Suns (72-50, 30-23) on top in the South Atlantic League Northern Division's second-half standings.

FREDERICK, Md. - When Jimmy Key lost his last outing for the Baltimore Orioles, he didn't expect to get his next win two months later in a Class A game in Frederick. But the Orioles southpaw, in what he hopes will be his only rehabilitative assignment, pitched six strong innings for the Frederick Keys in a 13-4 win over the Salem Avalanche at Harry Grove Stadium Friday night. Despite being on the disabled list for two months, Key was pleased that he allowed just two runs on four hits, with six strikeouts and two walks.