Baseball: Two Out Ninth Inning Rally Sends Lowell Past Monsters 3-2

Posted on , updated on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

BURLINGTON — The Lowell Spinners scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning on a game-tying two-out homer and back-to-back doubles to rally for a 3-2 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in New York-Penn League action Saturday evening at historic Centennial Field.

Jordan Diaz had given Vermont a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with his league-leading 46th RBI on a sacrifice fly, but Lowell reliever Osvaldo De La Rosa worked out of further trouble by inducing Shane Selman to ground into a bases loaded inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to keep the Lake Monster lead at one run.

Vermont’s Osvaldo Berrios (0-4) recorded the first two outs of the ninth on pop ups, but Stephen Scott lined the first pitch he saw just over the fence in right to tie the game 2-2. Nick Northcut followed with a long double to right and, after a Berrios wild pitch, Jonathan Diaz lined a double down the right-field line to give Lowell the lead.

De La Rosa (4-1) closed out the game with a 1-2-3 bottom ninth as Vermont lost for the first time when leading after eight innings since July 30, 2018 at Connecticut and for the first time at Centennial Field since July 24, 2018 vs. Williamsport.

The teams had exchanged unearned runs with Vermont scoring the game’s first run in the fourth on a Shane Selman RBI grounder after a one-out fielding error and Kevin Richards double before Spinners tied game in seventh on Alex Erro two-out RBI single after a pair of Lake Monster errors.

Vermont starter Seth Shuman, Oakland sixth-round pick out of Georgia Southern, needed just 56 pitches to get through five scoreless innings, scattering three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Lowell starter Chris Murphy, Boston’s sixth-rounder out of San Diego, allowed the unearned run on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts over first 3 1/3 innings.

Gilberto Jimenez went 4-for-4 for Lowell (37-30), while Northcut 3-for-4 with two runs scored as the Spinners outhit the Lake Monsters 10-4 in the game and now lead the Stedler Division by seven games over Vermont (30-37) with nine games remaining.

The Lake Monsters head to Brooklyn for a three-game series with the Cyclones starting 4:00 pm on Sunday. After a pair of 7:00pm games Monday and Tuesday, Vermont will to Centennial for its last homestand of the season with a three-game series vs. Connecticut Wednesday-Friday.