MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL After 9-3 loss, Scrappers hit road for six-game trip

Batavia snapped Mahoning Valley's two-game winning streak at Cafaro Field.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- They rushed through the clubhouse, packing their bags, grabbing their pillows and finding a quick bite to eat. A trip to Batavia, N.Y., awaited the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
Only hours before most Valley residents woke for work, the Scrappers pulled into Batavia around 3 this morning to begin another three-game series with the Muckdogs.
"It seems that we've lived on the road this year," Scrappers manager Chris Bando said. "We haven't had a lot of time at home and we've had some long trips. But that's life in the minor leagues."
Dealing with defeat
Tonight's first of six straight road games comes on the heels of the Scrappers' 9-3 loss to Batavia on Monday at Cafaro Field.
The defeat broke the Scrappers' two-game winning streak and prompted a team meeting in the clubhouse after the game.
"It was just like we didn't come to play tonight," Scrappers center fielder Jonathan Van Every said. "This was a different team than the past two days.
"You can't take days off," he said. "You can't take pitches off. The game will bite you if you get lazy."
As the leadoff hitter, Van Every seemed to set the tone in the first inning. He tripled off Batavia right-hander Carlos Cabrera (5-0), who came into the game as the New York-Penn League's top pitcher.
The Scrappers (14-13) scored two runs on three hits in the inning to force a 2-2 tie, but were limited to one run on three hits the rest of the way.
"We put it on cruise control the rest of the game," Van Every said.
Bando said, "[Cabrera] didn't have his good stuff today, but the thing about it is he pitches good enough to win. He didn't have as good of stuff as he usually has, but he knows how to pitch."
Moving on
After their team meeting, the Scrappers were looking ahead.
"At this stage of our careers, the loss is done with," Van Every said. "We look forward to the next day."
Victor Kleine (2-2) is certainly looking forward to another opportunity. The Scrappers' starting left-hander was tagged for five runs on six hits in 12/3 innings.
"You have five more days to get it back in gear and go back out there and give it your all again," Kleine said. "That's all you can do -- go start to start, inning to inning."
Kleine, who came into his sixth start with a 2.08 ERA, opened the game by allowing two singles and hitting a batter.
"It was just one of those days when you can't throw anything for strikes," Kleine said. "You can't really explain it. It just happens."
Bando said, "It's tough to pitch behind in the count. He just had a rough night finding the strike zone."
Help in relief
Kleine's early departure forced Bando to go to his bullpen. Kevin Martin, Chris White and Dan Rich were called upon to pitch.
"The guys needed to throw and get some work out there in the bullpen," Bando said. "Unfortunately, we had to go to them earlier than we wanted to."
The Scrappers cut their deficit to 5-3 in the fourth inning on Andrew Baxter's solo home run off the right-field foul pole.
Batavia (13-14), which recorded 14 hits off Scrappers pitching, pulled away with two runs in each of the fifth and ninth innings.
After their three games at Batavia, the Scrappers will finish their road trip with three games at Staten Island. They will return home July 22 against Auburn.
BATAVIAMAHONING VALLEY
abrhbiabrhbi
Abreu 2b5230Van Every cf5110
Dancy lf5210Larkin 2b4000
Barthelemy 3b4012Osborn 3b3100
Sato dh4100Wright lf1011
Cafiero 1b5142Wallace c4010
Pratt c3001Peavey 1b3011
Rivero rf5233Conroy rf4000
Rivera cf4010Baxter dh3111
Rodriguez ss5110Abreu ss2000Gomez ss/ph1010
Totals409148Totals30363
Batavia230020002--9
Mahoning Valley200100000--3
E--Barthelemy, Larkin, Osborn. DP--Mahoning Valley 2, Batavia 2. LOB--Batavia 11, Mahoning Valley 7. HR--Baxter, Rivero. 3B--Van Every, Rivero. 2B--Cafiero. SF--Wright. SB--Dancy.
IPHRERBBSO
Batavia
Cabrera W, 5-0553334
Moreno200013
Menocal210012
Mahoning Valley
Kleine L, 2-21 2-365521
Martin3 1-332202
White210013
Rich242232
WP--Cabrera, Rich 2. HBP--by Kleine (Barthelemy), by Moreno (Peavey). Umpires--Bill Coble, home; Trevor Grieve, bases. T--3:00. A--2,931.
HOW THEY SCORED
FIRST INNING
BATAVIA 2, MAHONING VALLEY 2
Muckdogs: Victor Kleine pitching. Nielson Abreu singled to right, Cliff Dancy singled in the infield, Abreu to second. Ryan Barthelemy hit by pitch, Abreu to third, Dancy to second, loading the bases. G.G. Sato struck out. Rob Cafiero singled to right, Abreu scored, Dancy to third, Barthelemy to second. Trent Pratt reached on a fielder's choice, Dancy scored, Cafiero out at second, Barthelemy to third. Luis Rivero grounded out to second. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left.
Scrappers: Carlos Cabrera pitching. Jonathan Van Every tripled to right, Shaun Larkin struck out. Pat Osborn walked, Brian Wright flied out to right to sacrifice Van Every home. David Wallace singled in the infield, Osborn to third on an error by the third baseman. Bill Peavey singled to right, Osborn scored, Wallace to third. Mike Conroy flied out to left. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left.
SECOND INNING
BATAVIA 5, MAHONING VALLEY 2
Muckdogs: Kleine pitching. Erick Rivera walked, Carlos Rodriguez reached on a fielder's choice, Rivera out at second. Abreu singled to right, Rodriguez to second. Dancy walked, Rodriguez to third, Abreu to second, loading the bases. Barthelemy singled to right, Rodriguez, Abreu scored, Dancy to second. Sato grounded out to first, Dancy to third, Barthelemy to second. Cafiero singled in the infield, Dancy scored, Barthelemy to third. Kevin Martin pitching. Pratt grounded out to second. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left.
FOURTH INNING
BATAVIA 5, MAHONING VALLEY 3
Scrappers: Cabrera pitching. Peavey flied out to center. Conroy struck out. Andrew Baxter homered off the right-field foul pole. Angel Abreu walked, Van Every flied out to left. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left.
FIFTH INNING
BATAVIA 7, MAHONING VALLEY 3
Muckdogs: Martin pitching. Cafiero doubled to left, Pratt grounded out to short. Rivero homered over the left-field wall, Cafiero scored. Rivera struck out. Rodriguez grounded out to second. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left.
NINTH INNING
BATAVIA 9, MAHONING VALLEY 3
Muckdogs: Dan Rich pitching. Sato walked, Cafiero struck out. Pratt walked, Sato to second. Rivero tripled to right center field, Sato scored, Pratt thrown out at home. Rivero scored on a wild pitch. Rivera singled to right, Rodriguez singled to left, Rivera to second. Rivera to third, Rodriguez to second on a wild pitch. Abreu walked to load the bases. Dancy flied out to short. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 left.
richesson@vindy.com