Another strong night for Bellows

The infielder had two hits and scored twice to lead Mahoning Valley to a win over Lowell.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

Vindicator correspondent

NILES — Kyle Bellows is proving to be the best everyday player for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Bellows was again the catalyst Saturday night as the shortstop had two hits and scored two runs in a 7-6 victory over the Lowell Spinners.

Bellows leads the team in several offensive categories including home runs (seven) and RBIs (31).

The Scrappers (35-21) had been mired in a mini slump, losing three of their last four games before coming out on top before 4,000 fans at Eastwood Field.

Bellows who usually plays third base, was at shortstop in place of the injured Kyle Smith, and made a couple of nice defensive plays to help quell Lowell rallies.

“We didn’t play well last night,” Bellows said. “We came out tonight and played really well.

“Whenever I can help the team win I’ll do it. It’s a team effort and we all do whatever it takes to win.”

The Scrappers got two hits apiece by Jason Kipnis and Jesus Brito and good relief pitching from Nick Kirk and Cory Burns, who picked up his eighth save of the season.

Mahoning Valley jumped on the Spinners right from the start and held off the Stedney Division leaders after opening up a 7-3 lead.

The Scrappers scored three runs in the first inning with two outs.

Mahoning Valley hitters strung together four singles including three that drove in runs.

Casey Frawley walked and Bellows singled to put runners on first and second with two down. Greg Folgia then drove in the first run of the game and Chun Chen and Brito followed with run-scoring singles.

The Scrappers tacked on another run in the second inning when Jordan Henry reached first on a single and promptly stole his team-leading 16th base of the season. Henry scored one out later on an RBI single by Kipnis.

Lowell got to Mahoning Valley’s starter Marty Popham with three runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-3.

Wilfred Pichardo drilled a two-run homer to right and Ryan Westmoreland knocked in another run with a double later in the inning.

Popham (5-1, 2.59 ERA) gave up three earned runs and eight hits in five innings. He’s one of five Scrappers heading to the NYPL All-Star game on Tuesday along with Burns, Clayton Cook, Smith and Henry.

The Scrappers regrouped to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and that proved to be enough to secure the win.

After the first two Scrappers batters reached on a walk, Chen sacrificed the runners to second and third and Brito knocked in two runs with a double for his second and third RBIs. Brito was thrown out at third on the play.

Ben Carlson then hit a ground rule double and scored later on an error off the bat of Rafael Vera to give Mahoning Valley a 7-3 lead.

Antwonie Hubbard came on in relief of Popham and gave up single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

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LowellScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Gibson 2b4130Henry cf5110

Bermudez cf4000Frawley 2b4100

Wstmrland dh5011Kipnis lf5021

McGuiness 1b4010Bellows ss3220

Almanzar 3b5110Folgia rf2211

Hassan rf4110Chen c3011

Butler c5021Brito 3b3023

Garcia ss5110Carlson dh4110

Pichardo lf4233Vera 1b4000

Totals406135Totals337106

Lowell000031110—6

Scrappers31003000x—7

E—Almanzar (11), Folgia (5), Brito (1). LOB—Lowell 11, Scrappers 8. 2B—McGuiness (15), Westmoreland (10), Brito (3), Carlson (4). HR—Pichardo (2). SB—Gibson (22), Pichardo (16), Henry (16), Vera (5), Bellows (8). PB—Butler (2).

IPHRERBBSO

Lowell

Cabral L, 0-6474423

Rosario333233

Rutter100001

Scrappers

Popham W, 5-1583307

Hubbard242222

Fonseca1-311000

Kirk2-300010

Burns S, 8100002

WP—Popham, Hubbard. Umpires—Home, Jose Rivera; Bases, Brian Debraywere. T—3:14. A—4,000.

HOW THEY SCORED

Scrappers 1st — Henry strikes out looking. Frawley walks. Kipnis strikes out looking. Bellows singles to left, Frawley to 3rd. Folgia singles to right, Frawley scores, Bellows to 3rd. Chen singles to left, Bellows scores, Folgia to 2nd. Brito singles to center, Folgia scores, Chen to 2nd. Carlson pops out (F-4). 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Scrappers 2nd — Vera grounds out (6-3). Henry singles to second. With Frawley batting, Henry steals 2nd. Frawley grounds out (5-3). Kipnis singles to left, Henry scores. Bellows infield single, Kipnis to 2nd. Folgia pops out (FF-3). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Lowell 5th — Garcia singles to first. Pichardo homers to right, Garcia scores. Gibson singles to center. Bermudez sacrifice bunt (1-3), Gibson to 2nd. With Westmoreland batting, Gibson to 3rd on wild pitch. Westmoreland doubles to left, Gibson scores. McGuiness strikes out swinging. Almanzar flies out (F-8). 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 5th — Pitching change: Rosario replaces Cabral. Bellows walks. With Folgia batting, Bellows steals 2nd. Folgia walks. Chen sacrifice bunt (1-3), Bellows to 3rd, Folgia to 2nd. Brito doubles to center, Bellows scores, Folgia scores, Brito out at 3rd (8-4-5). Carlson ground rule double. Vera reaches on fielding error (E-5), Carlson scores. With Henry batting, Vera steals 2nd. Henry flies out (F-7). 3 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Lowell 6th — Pitching change: Hubbard replaces Popham. Hassan walks. Butler singles to right, Hassan to 3rd on fielding error (E-9). Garcia strikes out swinging. Pichardo singles to center, Hassan scores, Butler to 2nd. Gibson walks, Butler to 3rd, Pichardo to 2nd. Bermudez strikes out swinging. Westmoreland pops out (F-6). 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.

Lowell 7th — McGuiness flies out (F-9). Almanzar singles to right. With Hassan batting, Almanzar to 2nd on wild pitch. Hassan flies out (F-7). Butler singles to center, Almanzar scores. Garcia grounds out (6-3). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Lowell 8th — Pitching change: Fonseca replaces Hubbard. Pichardo infield single. With Gibson batting, Pichardo steals 2nd. Gibson reaches on fielder’s choice, Pichardo scores on fielding error (E-5), Gibson to 2nd. Bermudez grounds out (6-3). Pitching change: Kirk replaces Fonseca. Westmoreland grounds out (4-3), Gibson to 3rd. McGuiness walks. Almanzar grounds out (4-3). 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.