Mother Nature has been unkind to the young Mahoning Valley Scrappers this week. The Indians’ short-season affiliate has had three rainouts and a pair of doubleheaders in the last week because of the weather.
The Scrappers were set to play three with Connecticut on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but had to settle for a Monday doubleheader and Tuesday’s finale. They swept the three games to push their winning streak to five straight. After Wednesday’s off day and Thursday’s rainout in Aberdeen, the Scrappers played their second doubleheader of the week, winning game one 7-1 before a 6-2 loss in the nightcap to end their six-game winning streak. Saturday’s matchup was similarly drowned out by rain.
Mahoning Valley (18-22) returns home Sunday for three with Williamsport before hitting the road for six straight against West Virginia and Hudson Valley. They have incredibly pulled within four games of the .500 mark and are eight and a half games in back of State College in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division.
In other news and notes from the Scrappers’ scrapbook:
McKENZIE’S ERA CLIMBS TO 0.61
Cleveland’s 2015 draft pick Triston McKenzie allowed just his third earned run in eight starts this season on Monday as he won his fourth game of the year. He was charged with one earned run on three hits over six and two-thirds innings on the mound, striking out five while issuing no walks.
On the year, the 18-year-old right-hander out of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, has struck out 47 batters in 44 1/3 innings. He has a 0.61 ERA, a .181 batting average against, and a 0.95 WHIP.
BIEBER’S SECOND START
Fourth rounder Shane Bieber made his second start of the season for the Scrappers on Friday. He pitched three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out three. The 21-year-old right-hander was selected out of UC Santa Barbara.
CALICA CONTINUES HITTING
Bieber’s teammate at UC Santa Barbara, Andrew Calica, continues hitting at a torrid pace against short-season pitching.
He extended his hitting streak to seven straight this week and is hitting .543 over his last ten games. He went 5-for-9 in the series against Connecticut with three runs and two RBI. He followed that by going 3-for-5 with two more runs and an RBI in the doubleheader Friday with Aberdeen.
On the season, the 22-year-old outfielder is hitting .431 with a .542 on-base percentage in 19 games.
COLLINS WITH FOUR STRAIGHT MULTI-HIT GAMES
Third baseman Gavin Collins put together a four-game hitting streak composed of four consecutive multi-hit efforts. After getting five hits in the final two games against Lowell last week, he went 2-for-3 on Monday against Connecticut and followed it with a 2-for-4 effort with an RBI on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old and 13th round pick out of Mississippi State this season is hitting .266 in 21 games.
ISAACS ON A TEAR
Outfielder Todd Isaacs, 20, is hitting for high average through his first 20 games this season. He has four two-hit games in his last five games, going 8-for-21 in that span. Over the last ten games, he has hit .344 and is hitting .350 for the season with three doubles, two homers, and four RBI.
Isaacs, a 19th round pick in the 2015 draft, is in his first season of work with the Scrappers after spending last season with the Indians’ Arizona League team.
SAYLES HITS A WALK-OFF SHOT
Silento Sayles knocked off the Connecticut Tigers on Tuesday with a three-run walk-off homer to cap the three-game sweep by the Scrappers. In addition to his homer, he also singled and scored a pair of runs in his 2-for-5 effort.
FIVE-GAME HITTING STREAK FOR LONGO
Ohio University outfielder Mitch Longo extended his hitting streak to five straight games and six of seven since returning to action with the Scrappers in the middle of the month. He had a pair of hits (including a double) in four at bats with a run scored and an RBI on Monday and was 2-for-3 against Aberdeen on Friday with two runs scored and another double.
Five of his last eight hits have been doubles.
LETKEWICZ ALLOWS THE RARE RUN
Right-hander Mike Letkewicz, taken in the 23rd round this year out of Augustana College, is carrying a 1.52 ERA through eleven games this season. The 22-year-old has worked 23 2/3 innings, allowing just four runs on 16 hits with ten walks and 17 strikeouts. Opposing hitters are batting just .193 against him.
ROSTER MOVES
On Monday, outfielder Jodd Carter was transferred to High-A Lynchburg after an organizational roster shuffle highlighted by the moves of Clint Frazier and former Scrapper Bradley Zimmer from Double-A Akron to Triple-A Columbus. Right-hander Micah Miniard moved to Single-A Lake County on Wednesday.
The Scrappers received left-hander Ben Krauth from Goodyear on Friday. He had appeared in seven games in the Arizona League, posting a 2-0 record with two saves in three opportunities. He has allowed just one unearned run in 14 innings of work while striking out 20. The left-hander was a 16th round pick by the Indians in June.
Photo removed by request
