Scrappers extend streak with wild finish

August 20, 2015 at 12:09a.m.

NILES

A wild offensive night at Eastwood Field ended in wild fashion for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

The result was a 7-6 Scrappers win over Batavia in front of 2,090 fans.

With the game tied at 6-6, Scrappers center fielder Silento Sayles led off the bottom of the ninth inning with an infield single and eventually advanced to third with two outs. Sayles then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Sayles was at third when Batavia pitcher Jordan Hillyar threw a fast ball in the dirt with Mark Mathias at the plate.

Sayles hesitated for a second, but then broke for home and slid under a tag by Hillyar.

“I was standing on third thinking to myself, ‘Here comes a wild pitch, here comes the game,’” Sayles said. “But then when I saw the ball go back to the backstop, I stopped for a second and was like, ‘did that just happen?’

“For a second I couldn’t believe it, but then I just took off knowing I had to score.”

Sayles’ run capped off a game which saw the Scrappers trail early, grab the lead in the middle innings, then surrender the lead in the eighth.

With the Batavia leading 3-1, the Scrappers (26-29) erupted for four runs on five hits to take a 5-3 advantage in the fourth.

Juan De La Cruz led off the frame with a single, then advanced to third on a Mark Mathias double. Both runners scored when Li-Jen Chu belted his second home run of the season over the left-centerfield wall.

Chu, a seldom-used catcher, was playing in place of Daniel Salters, who played Tuesday night in the New York-Penn League All-Star game.

The Scrappers added a run in the fifth to go up 6-3 on a Chu sacrifice fly.

The Muckdogs tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth when Stone Garrett blasted his league-leading eleventh home run deep over the wall in left-center. Garrett also leads the league in RBI (45). His 11 home runs were more than the total homers hit by all the players in the Scrappers’ starting lineup.

While the Scrappers have struggled mightily this year at Eastwood Field, starting pitcher Casey Shane has enjoyed individual success.

Shane (2-3) turned in another impressive performance against the Muckdogs. The righty worked 62/3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) while recording five strikeouts. This year at Eastwood Field, Shane is 2-0. He’s given up just seven earned runs in 342/3 innings while recording 26 strikeouts. Over his last three home starts, Shane has given up just two earned runs in 20 innings.

Meanwhile, the Scrappers are on a three-game winning streak and appear energized as they head toward the home stretch.

“We feel good about the way we’re playing, the things that we’re doing right now,” Sayles said. “It’s been a long and rough season in a way, but at the same time we’ve always maintained a very positive attitude.”

Sayles said the two-day all-star rest came at the right time.

“I pretty much slept it away, though I did come to the clubhouse just to get out a bit,” Sayles said. “Mentally, I think it helped a lot of us refocus.”