Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Staff report
Granville, W. VA.
Five walks plus a batter hit by a pitch helped the West Virginia Black Bears score six times in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 10-3 victory over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
The Scrappers (3-2) struck first with a run in the top of the first inning.
With two outs, Jonathan Rodriguez singled and stole second. He scored on Jonathan Engelmann’s RBI single.
The Black Bears quickly tied the game after Kyle Mottice singled. Two Jhonneyver Gutierrez pitches later, Nick Patton doubled to tie the game.
The Black Bears scored two runs in their second at-bat then broke the game open in the fifth inning.
The first four batters walked to start the inning against reliever Jordan Scheftz.
After a sacrifice fly, reliever Luis Sanchez hit a batter then issued a walk.
The inning ended with the Black Bears ahead, 10-1.
Mahoning Valley scored a run in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
Gutierrez (0-1) took the loss. He went 3.2 innings while allowing four earned runs on four hits. He struck out five without issuing a walk.
Scheftz recorded the final out of the fourth inning before allowing three earned runs on one hit.
In three innings, Sanchez pitched three innings, allowing allowed three earned runs on two hits. He walked two and struck out four.
The Scrappers and Black Bears play here again tonight and Thursday.
Carlos Vargas gets the start todaya with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
The Scrappers return home on Friday night to host the Auburn Doubledays at 7:05 p.m. at Eastwood Field in Niles.