Tri-City takes middle game 7-2 over Lowell

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The Lowell Spinners came into Wednesday night’s game with a chance to have second place all to themselves. However, Tri-City had other ideas. Backed by three two-run innings the Valleycats evened the three game set with a 7-2 victory over the Spinners.

Nick Duron got the ball for Lowell on Wednesday night. Coming into this start he has been good. In fact, over his last 10 innings pitched Duron has given up only eight hits, one walk, one earned run while striking out four.

Last night it was the long ball that did him and the team in. The Valleycats got started in the very first frame. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Duron gave up a single to JJ Matijevic. It was followed by a home run to right field off the bat of Jonathan Arauz, his first of the season, 2-0 Tri-City.

The same method used by the Valleycats in the third. Arauz walked with one out and one batter later Adrian Tovalin took Duron over the wall in right for the second two-run HR of the night. It was now 4-0 and for Tovalin it was his fourth of the year.

Lowell mounted their only offense of the night in the fourth off of Tri-City starter Brandon Bielak ( 4 IP, 4H, 2R, 3K’S, 0 BB). Bielak made quick work of the first two batters of the inning then gave up three hits that produced both Spinners runs. A single by Garrett Benge was followed by a double to the gap in left center by Marino Campana. It scored Benge all the way from first. 4-1 Tri-City. The double extended Campana hit streak to twelve games. The next batter, Juan Barriento, took a Bielak offering the other way to right which would score Campana to cut the deficit in half at 4-2 through four.

It would be as close as Lowell would get. Their sloppy play would allow the Valleycats to score two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh to make the final score Tri-City 7 Lowell 2.

After the game Manager, Iggy Suarez thought that his starter Duron threw the ball well despite the two home runs allowed. He was especially pleased with the way he fought through his outing.

He was not happy with the lack of as he called it “taking care of the baseball. On Wednesday night the Spinners made three errors and one bad base running mistake. During this stretch of winning seven out of their last ten games, the Spinners had done a pretty good job of staying away from those mistakes.

Still, the manager is excited about the rest of the season, and with division games coming up against teams in front of them in the Stedler Division, there is still a chance to make things happen in a good way.

With the loss, Duron’s record falls to 2-4. Ben Smith, who came out of the Valleycats pen to quiet the Lowell bats for an inning gets the win and he is now 5-2.

The rubber game of the series is Thursday night, first pitch is at 6:35pm.