Bottom of the order beats the Scrappers

NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE BASEBALL

Staten Island’s 7-8-9 hitters went 6-for-12 and led the way in a 4-0 victory over Mahoning Valley at Eastwood Field.

By RYAN JONES

Vindicator sports correspondent

NILES — The Mahoning Valley Scrappers pitching staff handled the heart of the Staten Island order fairly well; however, the Yankees’ seven, eight and nine hitters had their way at the plate in Tuesday’s New York-Penn League game.

The bottom third of the Staten Island order went 6-for-12 as the Scrappers (16-9) were shut out 4-0 by the Yankees in the first game of a three-game series at Eastwood Field.

Staten Island (12-13) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when No. 9 batter Francisco Santana hit a RBI single to right that scored Emerson Landoni from second base.

The Yankees tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Landoni scored from first on Santana’s triple to right-center.

Francisco went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Yankees.

Scrappers coach Travis Fryman said his squad didn’t play well enough in any of the three phases of the game to win.

“What really bugs me was that the seven, eight and nine hitters hurt us,” he said. “It wasn’t the heart of their order. Their number nine hitter [Santana] had the first two RBIs and he only had two RBIs this year coming into the game. You hate to see the bottom of the order beat you.”

Neil Medchill’s two-run blast gave the Yankees a 4-0 advantage in the fifth inning.

The four-run lead was more than enough for Staten Island’s Trenton Lare.

Lare (2-2) kept the Scrappers’ bats off balance for most of the evening. The 6-foot-4 left hander tossed seven shutout innings, scattered six hits and walked one and struck out five.

“We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win, “Fryman said. “We only had one runner reach second base all game.”

Marty Popham (2-1), who tossed seven innings of no-hit ball in his last start, allowed 10 hits and four runs in five innings and suffered his first loss of the season.

“Popham wasn’t as sharp today,” Fryman said. “He missed up in the zone a lot with his fastball his breaking ball and he fell behind hitters. It doesn’t matter what level you’re playing at; if you fall behind hitters you’re going to get hit hard. He was a little off tonight, but nobody’s going to be great every time they step onto the ball field.

“But at the end of the day we didn’t score any runs, so Marty would have had to have been perfect and even then he would have earned a no decision.”

Guido Fonseca came on in relief of Popham and threw two shutout innings.

Fryman said Fonseca has been inconsistent this season.

“Guido threw the ball well today,” Fryman said. “We’ve been trying to get him to pitch like he did today. We want him to be aggressive, work ahead of hitters and trust his stuff. He’s had some really good outings for us, but he’s a work in progress like all of us.”

Chun Chen went 2-for-4 to lead the Scrappers and teammate Kyle Bellows added two hits.

Fryman said Chen has started to come around as a hitter.

“For the past five days he’s been one of our best hitters,” he said. “He’s given us quality at-bats and he has the talent to be a good hitter. We moved him to the four spot to take some pressure off [Ben] Carlson who had been hitting in that spot. We’re working on some things with Carlson so Chen will probably stay in that spot for awhile.”

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Staten IslandScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Paredes dh5010Henry cf3010

Rabago 2b4130Smith ss4010

Almonte rf1000Smit 1b4000

Mack ph-rf3000Chen c4020

Higashioka c4000Bellows 3b4020

Medchill lf4122Carlson dh4000

Castro 3b3010Folgia lf3000

Landoni ss4220Palincsar rf4000

Murton 1b4010Basabe 2b3000

Santana cf4032

Totals364134Totals33060

Staten Island010120000—4

Scrappers000000000—0

E—Rabago (2). DP—Staten Island 1, Scrappers 2. LOB—Staten Island 7, Scrappers 8. 3B—Santana (1). HR—Medchill (5). SB—Bellows (5). CS—Santana (4), Paredes (2), Medchill (1). PO—Santana (1).

IPHRERBBSO

Staten Island

Lare W, 2-2760015

Solbach200001

Scrappers

Popham L, 2-15104417

Fonseca210000

Nuno220001

HBP—By Solbach (Folgia), By Nuno (Castro). Umpires—Home, Robert Calvert; Bases, Gabriel Colon. T—2:24. A—3,363.

HOW THEY SCORED

Staten Island 2nd — Medchill struck out. Castro struck out. Landoni singled tp shortstop. Murton singled to left field, Landoni to 2nd. Santana singled to right field, scoring Landoni, Murton to 3rd, Santana to 2nd on the throw. Paredes popped out (F-6). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Staten Island 4th — Castro flied out (F-8). Landoni singled to center field. Murton struck out. Santana tripled to right field, scoring Landoni. Paredes grounded out (4-3). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Staten Island 5th — Rabago walked. Mack flied out (F-8). Higashioka popped out (F-6). Medchill homered to right-center field, scoring Rabago. Castro singled to third base. Landoni struck out. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.