Scrappers’ defensive woes pay off for Cyclones rally

Scrappers vs. Cycles

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The Mahoning Valley Scrappers take on the Brooklyn Cyclones, Thursday, August 13, 2009 at Eastwood Field. The Scrappers lost, 2-to-1, after leading for seven innings.

Manager Travis Fryman also is not happy with his squad’s situational hitting.

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

NILES — Before this homestand began, Mahoning Valley Scrappers manager Travis Fryman admitted he thought his team would get exposed.

“We hoped to expose the other club a little bit [too],” he said.

On Thursday night, the Scrappers’ two biggest weaknesses — defense and situational hitting — again reared their heads as the Brooklyn Cyclones rallied for a 2-1 victory at Eastwood Field to win the best-of-three series.

It was the second time in three nights the Scrappers lost after leading after seven innings.

“It’s the same nemesis all year long,” said Fryman, whose team won the middle game 12-1 on Wednesday. “Our situational hitting is very poor and our defensive play is poor.

“Both games we lost were the results of those things.”

The Scrappers led 1-0 entering the eighth and quickly got two outs.

But Ralph Henriquez singled to center and Alex Gregory followed with a double to center to score Henriquez.

The throw to the plate was off-line, so catcher Chun Chen’s only play was to try and catch Gregory off the bag at second. But Chen’s threw went low and bounced into center field, where no one was backing up the play. Gregory scored easily on a two-base error.

“I’m not sure why we’re not backing up second base like we’re supposed to,” Fryman said. “Somebody’s probably thinking about their at-bats more than about playing defense.”

The loss wasted a nice pitching performance by the Scrappers.

Starter Brett Brach (2-2, 2.62 ERA) went 51‚Ñ3 shutout innings, striking out three, walking two and surrendering four hits. Jeremy Johnson (11‚Ñ3 innings) and Nick Kirk (two-thirds of an inning) both held the Cyclones scoreless before Cory Burns (3-1) took the hard-luck loss.

When asked about the pitching, Fryman said, “You’ve got to have more than one thing going well out there.”

The series pitted the two best teams in the NYPL — they’re both still tied at the top with 34-20 records — and Fryman felt the losses were the result of his players doing too much (three mental mistakes in the ninth inning led to Tuesday’s loss) or not enough (the poor defensive play in the eighth on Thursday coupled with going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position).

“It comes down to doing the little things right,” Fryman said. “When you play good teams, that’s what it always boils down to.”

Chen had a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-4 and scoring the team’s only run. Rafael Vera had the lone RBI on a sacrifice fly.

The series loss aside, the Scrappers are in a much better place today than they were at this time last year. Mahoning Valley was 23-33 on Aug. 14, 2008 en route to a 31-44 finish. Now it’s in the hunt for a playoff berth.

When asked about the difference between the two clubs, Fryman didn’t hesitate.

“It’s pitching,” he said. “Baseball, at the end of the day, really boils down to how you pitch. Pitching and defense and then you throw in a few runs.

“This club has pitched well and our starting pitching has been excellent. Our bullpen has had stretches where it’s pitched well and at times it’s struggled.”

Mahoning Valley is third in the league in ERA (2.88) and has three All-Stars on its staff: starters Clayton Cook and Marty Popham and closer Burns.

Preston Guilmet (5-2, 2.72), who could have been an All-Star, gets the start tonight, while Popham will start Saturday.

“From Day One, our starting pitching has been the strength of our ballclub,” Fryman said.

With the Lowell Spinners in town for a three-game series this weekend, that needs to continue.

Lowell (30-23) leads the Stedler Division and has the fifth-best record in the league.

———

BrooklynScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Garber cf4010J.Henry cf3010

Doyle c3000K.Smith ss5010

Honeck 1b4000Folgia 2b4000

L.Rivera rf4010Bellows 3b4000

Henriquez dh4120Ch.Chen c4120

Gregory lf4111Carlson 1b3010

Giarraputo 3b4010Je.Brito dh4010

Gaski 2b4020Vera lf3011

Shields ss4000Palincsar rf4000

Totals35281Totals34171

Brooklyn000000020—2

Scrappers000001000—1

E—Giarraputo 2 (5), Ch. Chen (5), Folgia (4). LOB—Brooklyn 9, Scrappers 10. 2B—Giarraputo (6), Gregory (9), Ch. Chen (13). CS—Doyle (2), Ch. Chen (2). SF—Vera.

IPHRERBBSO

Brooklyn

J. Fuller5 1-361115

Sage W,3-12 2-310001

Powers S,1100010

Scrappers

B.Brach5 1-340023

J.Johnson1 1-320012

Kirk H,42-300001

Burns BS,2 L,3-11 2-322102

PB—Ch. Chen. WP—Fuller, J. Powers. Balk—J. Fuller. HBP—by J. Fuller (Carlson). Umpires—Home, Brian Debrayware; Bases, Jose Rivera. T—2:49. A—4,303.

HOW THEY SCORED

Scrappers 6th — Chen doubles to center. Carlson pops out (F-6). Brito singles to left, Chen to 3rd. Pitching change: Sage replaces Fuller. Vera sacrifice fly (F-7), Chen scores. Palincsar strikes out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brooklyn 8th — Honeck strikes out looking. Pitching change: Burns replaces Kirk. Rivera pops out (FF-3). Henriquez singles to center. Gregor doubles to center, Henriquez scores, Gregory scores on throwing error (E-2). Giarraputo strikes out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

scalzo@vindy.com