The Jacksonville Suns allowed six runs in the top of the 11th inning in an 8-2 loss to the Montgomery Biscuits in front of 5,827 at the Baseball Grounds on Saturday night.

It was the third consecutive loss to the first-place Biscuits (16-7) after Jacksonville (10-13) had won four of five games against Pensacola to start a 10-game homestand.

Suns starting pitcher Angel Sanchez lost his bid to pick up his first win of the season after dropping his first four starts. Sanchez went 6 1/3 innings in his longest and most effective outing thus far. In two of his losses, Sanchez allowed a total of three earned runs in a pair of six-inning efforts against Birmingham and Chattanooga.

He escaped unscathed twice when the Biscuits loaded the bases. The second time came in the fifth inning when, with one out, Sanchez induced a 4-6-3 double-play ball. The 24-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic allowed at least one base runner in five of his seven innings that he pitched in.

The Suns bullpen has struggled during the team's homestand. It has now allowed at least one earned run in six of the eight games in the current home stand. Five times, it permitted three runs or more.

The cumulative figures weren't impressive.

In 18 2/3 innings of work in the eight home games, Suns relievers allowed 34 hits and 22 runs, 14 of which were earned, resulting in a 9.00 ERA. James Nygren had been one of the few bright spots in three appearances. He allowed just three hits in five scoreless innings.

But Saturday, after relieving Sanchez with two runners on base, he allowed a bunt single and a two-run single that tied the score before retiring the next two batters.

In the 11th inning the bullpen totally faltered, allowing three hits and six runs. A pair of Suns errors and a balk led to five of the runs being unearned.

The Suns continued to have defensive lapses. They committed three more errors on Saturday, giving them 14 miscues in their last six games. Two of their errors came in the 11th inning, fielding mistakes by shortstop Austin Nola and third baseman Ryan Fisher that led to a pair of unearned runs. The go-ahead run came home when Suns reliever Nick Wittgren was called for a balk when he touched his fingers to his mouth while standing on pitching rubber. The second run came in on a sacrifice fly. The third scored on Fisher's error.

The Suns lost an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Alfredo Silverio stroked a two-out single to left with Nola on second base. Nola plowed into Biscuits catcher Luke Maile instead of sliding. Maile fell over backward and in the ball popped free.

Home plate umpire Jimmy Hollingsworth hesitated before making the out call, even with the ball in the dirt.

The call infuriated Suns manager Andy Barkett who vehemently argued the call and was ejected, Barkett's second ejection of the homestand.