(Photo courtesy of Lowell Spinners)

Connector Editor

The Lowell Spinners (17-14) started off their six-game home stand with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Tri-City ValleyCats (16-15) Tuesday night at LeLacheur Park. The victory snaps a tough four-game losing streak, and puts the team back in sole possession of first place in the Stedler Division.

Outfielder Tate Matheny got the scoring started early for the Spinners with a sacrifice fly to deep center in the first inning. Outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe led off for the Spinners with a double to left field. A sacrifice bunt advanced Basabe to third, where Matheny’s towering fly was deep enough for Basabe to tag up.

Spinners first baseman Josh Ockimey lined what would be the game-winning RBI single to right field in the bottom half of the second inning. The base hit easily scored second basemen Chad De La Guerra from second. De La Guerra led off the inning by lacing a double down the right field line. The RBI was Ockimey’s 13th of the season, placing him second on the team in that category.

Ockimey’s single was a quick response to the ValleyCats tying the game at 1-1 in the top half of the second. Tri-City third-basemen Bobby Wernes got the first of his three base hits, scoring teammate Kolbey Carpenter from third base. A one-out double to left field by Carpenter was followed by a balk from Spinners starting pitcher Dioscar Romero and allowed the single by Wernes to plate the ValleyCats’ only run of the night.

Romero’s balk was also accompanied by a wild pitch, and five walks in an outing that lasted only four innings. Romero walked three consecutive batters with two outs to load the bases in the top half of the fourth inning. After a quick chat from manager Joe Oliver, the right-hander got ValleyCat right-fielder Edwin Medina to fly out, getting out of the jam with no damage.

“We were able to pitch out of some situations that we kind of created,” said Oliver after the game. “It was nice to see the pitchers not getting phased by these and collapsing.”

Spinners relievers were once again successful in keeping their opponent off the scoreboard. The staff as a whole allowed eight hits, half of them coming from Tri-City’s bottom two batters. The eight and nine spots for the ValleyCats combined to go 4-4, with four base hits and four walks.

The ValleyCats also got superb pitching from reliever Ralph Garza. The side-arm righty hurled three scoreless innings, and was the back half of a stretch where Tri-City pitching retired twelve Spinners in a row.

Spinners closer Bobby Poyner got his fourth save of the season, as he worked around a one out double in the top of the ninth. The save comes off a weekend where Poyner was responsible for a walk-off home-run by the Staten Island Yankees.

“He’s a control guy,” said Oliver when asked about his closer. “He made a mistake in the Staten Island series, but he’s learning. You put that mistake behind you and you move on.”

The Spinners prepare for an 11 a.m. first pitch on Wednesday as the middle part of a three-game series against the ValleyCats.  The game will be their seventh in as many days, and the early start comes a day after the team arrived back home in the early morning from Staten Island. Oliver, however, is ready to lead his team.

“It never stops,” Oliver said. “Welcome to short season A.”