Ted Kubiak had been promising for a week or so that his team was capable of scoring runs.  Tuesday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers delivered on Kubiak’s statement and posted a big number in a 6-2 win over the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Williamsport scored the first run of the game.  Speedy Diego Gonzalez reached first on a bunt single.  Gonzalez then stole second and went to third on a throwing error.  He then scored when the next batter, Chace Numata, hit a ball that second baseman Robel Garcia could not field cleanly.

The Scrappers answered in the bottom of the first.  Jairo Kelly singled up the middle and moved to second base on a Tyler Naquin single.  Kelly was caught stealing third which proved costly as the next batter, Juan Romero, hit his league-leading fourth home run of the season (below) to stake Mahoning Valley to a 2-1 lead.

The Scrappers tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second.  Erik Gonzalez started the frame with a walk and stole second.  Evan Frazer and Garcia also walked to load the bases off of Crosscutter starter Jonathan Musser.  With one out, Naquin walked forcing in a run.  Charlie Valerio greeted new Williamsport pitcher, Luis Gonzalez with a two-run single increasing the lead to 5-1.

“I am really impressed with this bunch”, boasted Kubiak.  “They bring a lot of energy and attitude and our pregame workouts have gone really well.”

The Scrappers added a run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a commanding 6-1 lead.  Naquin recorded his third hit of the night, an RBI-double, that plated Garcia and seemingly put the Scrappers in the drivers seat in this one.

Ryan Merritt (above) pitched five complete innings for the Scrappers in picking up the win.  Merritt scattered six hits and gave up an earned run while striking out three Crosscutters and walking one.  The outing started shaky, but Merritt really dialed in after the rough first inning to keep Williamsport at bay.

“I am impressed with him [Merritt]”, said Kubiak.  “It seems that the longer the game goes, the better he gets.  He has good control, but we have to address this slow start thing, maybe we can get him to throw longer before the game starts to some fake batters.”

Jacob Lee ,Rafael Homblert, and Robert Wagner closed out the game yielding just one unearned run in the four innings combined.