NY-PENN LEAGUE Scrappers stay in wild-card hunt

Mahoning Valley needed just three hits to beat Lowell 4-2.
LOWELL, Mass. -- Victor Kleine continued his impressive turnaround, allowing one hit in six innings as the Mahoning Valley Scrappers defeated Lowell 4-2 Tuesday at LaLacheur Park.
Kleine, a left-hander who was 1-8 last season, improved his record to 8-2 and moved into a tie for the New York-Penn League lead in wins with Williamsport's Josh Shortslef and Oneonta's Rikki Johnston.
The Scrappers won with just three hits -- singles by Dave Wallace and Andrew Baxter and a solo home run by Shaun Larkin, which opened the scoring in the third inning.
Mahoning Valley added three runs in the seventh inning, and relievers Simon Young, Dan Rich and Kevin Martin shut down Lowell late. Martin recorded his third save.
The race for the wild card remains tight.
Williamsport defeated Auburn 6-0 to improve to 37-25, a winning percentage of .597.
Half a game behind is Brooklyn (36-25, .590) which posted a 7-4 decision over Tri-City.
A full game behind Williamsport are the Scrappers (36-26, .581).
Still in the race is New Jersey (32-29, .525), which beat Batavia 4-1 and will open a three-game series at Mahoning Valley Thursday.
All teams in the league are idle tonight.
MAHONING VALLEYLOWELL
abrhbiabrhbi
Francisco cf4000Stone cf4000
Torres ss4000Ramirez ss3010
Osborn 3b4000Concepcion c4000
Wright rf3100Ontiveros 1b4121
Peavey dh3000Bowman lf3110
Wallace c4110Boran 3b4010
Baxter 1b4111Brown dh2000
Larkin 2b3112Campos rf3001
Conroy lf2000West 2b3000
Totals31433Totals30252
Mahoning Valley001000300--4
Lowell000000002--2
E--Larkin, Boran, Campos. DP--Mahoning Valley 2. LOB--Lowell 7, Mahoning Valley 3. HR--Larkin, Ontiveros. 2B--Ramirez, Ontiveros. SB--Brown. SF--Campos.
IPHRERBBSO
Mahoning Valley
Kleine W, 8-2610044
Young210001
Rich1/332211
Martin S, 32/300000
Lowell
Smith L, 3-2511116
Priola12/323221
Vaquedano21/300002
T--2:28. A--5,000.