NOTEBOOK | From Eastwood Field

Hot hitting: The Scrappers have raised their team batting average nearly 50 points over the last four games. They are currently batting .260 with 27 runs scored in seven games. The average is the fourth-best in the NYPL.
Who's hot: Who else, Andy Lytle. The Scrappers infielder went into Tuesday night's game hitting .538 over his last six games and is hitting .467 on the year, third best in the NYPL. Mahoning Valley has reached double figures in hits in three of its last four games and, before Tuesday's loss, the pitching staff had not blown a lead after five innings.
Streaks: Lytle has hit safely in six straight games and is 14-for-26 over that streak. He was 7-for-8 in his last two games prior to Tuesday night. Catcher Kelly Edmundson had a three-game hitting streak.
Tonight's starter: Josh Tomlin, who pitched three-innings of hitless ball in his professional debut last week against Williamsport, will make his second start tonight against the Spikes in the final game of the three-game series. Tomlin struck out five in those three innings and the only batter to reach base against him struck out and then reached when the catcher failed to hole the third strike. Tomlin was a 19th-round pick in the 2006 draft out of Texas Tech.
Keeps them guessing: Scrappers manager Rouglas Odor has taken advantage of what he considers a pretty talented roster thus far this season. Odor used his eighth different starting lineup Tuesday.
Stats leaders: Besides Lytle, who is third in the New York-Penn League top-10 batting race, the other Scrappers ranked among the leaders going into Tuesday's game included Dustin Realini, who was tied for second in home runs with two, while pitcher Nick Pesco is one of pitchers in the NYPL who has a perfect 0.00 ERA with a minimum of five innings pitched. Pitcher Luis Valdez is tied for second in strikeouts with 12, while the Scrappers are fourth in hitting as a team (.260) and second in pitching with an ERA of 2.04.
Pete Mollica