The Scrappers outlasted Tri-City, 6-5, on Jason Denham's perfect bunt.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES — On a night where the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and the Tri-City ValleyCats combined to hit four home runs, it was a suicide squeeze bunt that ended the drama in the 11th inning, giving the Scrappers a 6-5 victory in a New York-Penn League game Monday at Eastwood Field.
Andy Lytle reached on an error to start the 11th, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Stephen Douglas and took third on a groundout by Cirillo Cumberbatch. After an intentional walk to Josh Roberts (who had tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer), Jason Denham laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt on the third base line and Tri-City pitcher Chad Wagler couldn't come up with it, allowing Lytle to score the winning run.
Hart Hering (2-2) got the win, pitching two scoreless innings for Mahoning Valley (30-24), which increased its lead in the Pinckney Division standings to 11/2 games over State College. Tri-City is 31-23.
The Scrappers took a 4-0 lead in the third inning when Brent Thomas legged out a bunt single and, two outs later, Adam Davis worked a walk, bringing up Jared Goedert. Goedert hit a three-run homer into the left-field seats to make it 3-0. Matt McBride then followed with a walk and Josh Rodriguez doubled down the left-field line to score McBride.
Tri-City struck back with two runs in the top of the fourth when Jordan Parraz reached on an error, stole second and scored on a home run by Christopher Johnson.
Back-to-back homers
The power continued in the fifth when Jhon Florentino and Nicholas Moresi hit back-to-back opposite field homers over the right-field wall to tie the game. Greg Buchanan then reached on a single and moved to second on a wild pitch by Scrappers starter Josh Tomlin. Two passed balls later — both by Scrappers catcher McBride — Buchanan scored to give the ValleyCats a 5-4 lead.
Tomlin, a 19th round draft choice by the Indians out of Texas Tech, was chosen for Wednesday's All-Star game in Aberdeen, Md. He was 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA over his last four starts, but gave up five runs (three earned) in 42/3 innings on Wednesday.
After a 61-minute rain delay, the 5-4 score held up until the ninth when Roberts hit a two-out homer over the left-field fence to tie the game.
Tri-City had opportunities in the 10th and 11th to take the lead, but Hart Hering worked out of jams to set up the 11th inning drama.
Tri-City leadoff hitter Andrew Smith struck out five times — all swinging — to earn the "Golden Sombrero," which is baseball lingo for striking out five times in a game.
The Scrappers have the next two days off for the All-Star break before opening a three-game series in Staten Island.
scalzo@vindy.com
———
TRI-CITY SCRAPPERS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Smith dh 5 0 0 0 Denham cf 6 0 2 0
Torres ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Davis 2b 4 1 2 0
Buchanan 2b 6 1 2 0 Goedert 3b 5 1 1 3
Taylor 1b 4 0 0 0 McBride c 4 1 1 0
Parraz rf 3 1 0 0 Rodriguez ss 5 0 1 1
Van Ostrand lf 4 0 0 0 Lytle 1b 4 1 0 0
Johnson 3b 5 1 2 2 Douglas lf 4 0 0 0
Sapp c 3 0 1 0 Thomas rf 3 1 1 0
Tellam c 2 0 0 0 Crbtch ph-rf 2 0 0 0
Florentino ss 5 1 3 1 Roberts dh 4 1 1 1
Moresi cf 5 1 2 1
Totals 43 5 10 4 Totals 41 6 9 5
Tri-City 000 230 000 00 — 5
Scrappers 004 000 001 01 — 6
2 outs when winning run scored.
E—Florentino (9), Goedert (10). LOB—Tri-City 9, Scrappers 8. 2B—Rodriguez (3), Davis (7). HR—Johnson (1), Florentino (3), Goedert (3), Roberts (2). SB—Florentino (6), Parraz (17), Lytle (10), McBride (4). CS—Parraz (3). S—Taylor.
IP H R ER BB SO
Tri-City
Norris 4 4 4 4 2 3
Hudspeth 5 4 1 1 1 2
Wagler L, 1-5 1 2-3 1 1 0 1 0
Scrappers
Tomlin 4 2-3 6 5 2 0 6
Woods 1 1-3 1 0 0 0 2
Meyer 2 0 0 0 0 3
Hering W, 2-2 3 3 0 0 1 3
WP—Tomlin, Hering. Balk—Woods. HBP—by Woods (Parraz), by Meyer (Van Ostrand). PB—McBride 2. Umpires—Home, Jeremy Crowe; First, Matthew Pridemore. T—3:32. A—2,288.
HOW THEY SCORED
Scrappers 3rd — Thomas singled to third base. Roberts struck out. Denham flied out (F-7). Davis walked, Thomas to 2nd. Goedert homered to center field, Thomas and Davis scored. McBride walked. Rodriguez doubled to left field, McBride scored. Lytle grounded out (6-3). 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Tri-City 4th — Taylor flied out (F-9). Parraz reached on throwing error (E-5). With Van Ostrand batting, Parraz stole 2nd base. Van Ostrand grounded out (6-3). Johnson homered to left field, Parraz scored. Sapp struck out. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB
Tri-City 5th — Florentino homered to right field. Moresi homered to right field. Smith struck out. Buchanan singled to right field. Taylor struck out, but advanced to 1st base on wild pitch, Buchanan to 2nd. Pitching change: Woods replaced Tomlin. With Parraz batting, passed ball advanced Buchanan to 3rd. Parraz hit by pitch. With Van Ostrand batting, passed ball allowed Buchanan to score, Parraz to 2nd. James Van Ostrand batting, Parraz caught stealing 3rd base (1-5). 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Scrappers 9th — Douglas grounded out (2-3). Cumberbatch pinch hit for Thomas and flied out (F-9). Roberts homered to right field. Denham singled to center field. Davis struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Scrappers 11th — Lytle reached on fielding error (E-6). Douglas out on a sacrifice bunt (5-3), Lytle to 2nd. Cumberbatch grounded out (4-3), Lytle to 3rd. Roberts intentionally walked. Denham bunt singled to third base, Lytle scored, Roberts to 2nd. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The Scrappers outlasted Tri-City, 6-5, on Jason Denham's perfect bunt.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES — On a night where the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and the Tri-City ValleyCats combined to hit four home runs, it was a suicide squeeze bunt that ended the drama in the 11th inning, giving the Scrappers a 6-5 victory in a New York-Penn League game Monday at Eastwood Field.
Andy Lytle reached on an error to start the 11th, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Stephen Douglas and took third on a groundout by Cirillo Cumberbatch. After an intentional walk to Josh Roberts (who had tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer), Jason Denham laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt on the third base line and Tri-City pitcher Chad Wagler couldn't come up with it, allowing Lytle to score the winning run.
Hart Hering (2-2) got the win, pitching two scoreless innings for Mahoning Valley (30-24), which increased its lead in the Pinckney Division standings to 11/2 games over State College. Tri-City is 31-23.
The Scrappers took a 4-0 lead in the third inning when Brent Thomas legged out a bunt single and, two outs later, Adam Davis worked a walk, bringing up Jared Goedert. Goedert hit a three-run homer into the left-field seats to make it 3-0. Matt McBride then followed with a walk and Josh Rodriguez doubled down the left-field line to score McBride.
Tri-City struck back with two runs in the top of the fourth when Jordan Parraz reached on an error, stole second and scored on a home run by Christopher Johnson.
Back-to-back homers
The power continued in the fifth when Jhon Florentino and Nicholas Moresi hit back-to-back opposite field homers over the right-field wall to tie the game. Greg Buchanan then reached on a single and moved to second on a wild pitch by Scrappers starter Josh Tomlin. Two passed balls later — both by Scrappers catcher McBride — Buchanan scored to give the ValleyCats a 5-4 lead.
Tomlin, a 19th round draft choice by the Indians out of Texas Tech, was chosen for Wednesday's All-Star game in Aberdeen, Md. He was 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA over his last four starts, but gave up five runs (three earned) in 42/3 innings on Wednesday.
After a 61-minute rain delay, the 5-4 score held up until the ninth when Roberts hit a two-out homer over the left-field fence to tie the game.
Tri-City had opportunities in the 10th and 11th to take the lead, but Hart Hering worked out of jams to set up the 11th inning drama.
Tri-City leadoff hitter Andrew Smith struck out five times — all swinging — to earn the "Golden Sombrero," which is baseball lingo for striking out five times in a game.
The Scrappers have the next two days off for the All-Star break before opening a three-game series in Staten Island.
scalzo@vindy.com
———
TRI-CITY SCRAPPERS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Smith dh 5 0 0 0 Denham cf 6 0 2 0
Torres ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Davis 2b 4 1 2 0
Buchanan 2b 6 1 2 0 Goedert 3b 5 1 1 3
Taylor 1b 4 0 0 0 McBride c 4 1 1 0
Parraz rf 3 1 0 0 Rodriguez ss 5 0 1 1
Van Ostrand lf 4 0 0 0 Lytle 1b 4 1 0 0
Johnson 3b 5 1 2 2 Douglas lf 4 0 0 0
Sapp c 3 0 1 0 Thomas rf 3 1 1 0
Tellam c 2 0 0 0 Crbtch ph-rf 2 0 0 0
Florentino ss 5 1 3 1 Roberts dh 4 1 1 1
Moresi cf 5 1 2 1
Totals 43 5 10 4 Totals 41 6 9 5
Tri-City 000 230 000 00 — 5
Scrappers 004 000 001 01 — 6
2 outs when winning run scored.
E—Florentino (9), Goedert (10). LOB—Tri-City 9, Scrappers 8. 2B—Rodriguez (3), Davis (7). HR—Johnson (1), Florentino (3), Goedert (3), Roberts (2). SB—Florentino (6), Parraz (17), Lytle (10), McBride (4). CS—Parraz (3). S—Taylor.
IP H R ER BB SO
Tri-City
Norris 4 4 4 4 2 3
Hudspeth 5 4 1 1 1 2
Wagler L, 1-5 1 2-3 1 1 0 1 0
Scrappers
Tomlin 4 2-3 6 5 2 0 6
Woods 1 1-3 1 0 0 0 2
Meyer 2 0 0 0 0 3
Hering W, 2-2 3 3 0 0 1 3
WP—Tomlin, Hering. Balk—Woods. HBP—by Woods (Parraz), by Meyer (Van Ostrand). PB—McBride 2. Umpires—Home, Jeremy Crowe; First, Matthew Pridemore. T—3:32. A—2,288.
HOW THEY SCORED
Scrappers 3rd — Thomas singled to third base. Roberts struck out. Denham flied out (F-7). Davis walked, Thomas to 2nd. Goedert homered to center field, Thomas and Davis scored. McBride walked. Rodriguez doubled to left field, McBride scored. Lytle grounded out (6-3). 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Tri-City 4th — Taylor flied out (F-9). Parraz reached on throwing error (E-5). With Van Ostrand batting, Parraz stole 2nd base. Van Ostrand grounded out (6-3). Johnson homered to left field, Parraz scored. Sapp struck out. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB
Tri-City 5th — Florentino homered to right field. Moresi homered to right field. Smith struck out. Buchanan singled to right field. Taylor struck out, but advanced to 1st base on wild pitch, Buchanan to 2nd. Pitching change: Woods replaced Tomlin. With Parraz batting, passed ball advanced Buchanan to 3rd. Parraz hit by pitch. With Van Ostrand batting, passed ball allowed Buchanan to score, Parraz to 2nd. James Van Ostrand batting, Parraz caught stealing 3rd base (1-5). 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Scrappers 9th — Douglas grounded out (2-3). Cumberbatch pinch hit for Thomas and flied out (F-9). Roberts homered to right field. Denham singled to center field. Davis struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Scrappers 11th — Lytle reached on fielding error (E-6). Douglas out on a sacrifice bunt (5-3), Lytle to 2nd. Cumberbatch grounded out (4-3), Lytle to 3rd. Roberts intentionally walked. Denham bunt singled to third base, Lytle scored, Roberts to 2nd. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
On a night where the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and the Tri-City ValleyCats combined to hit four home runs, it was a...
