Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

BURLINGTON — A two-run single from C. J. Stubbs in the top of the first inning and hitless pitching for Tri-City pitchers between the first and ninth innings helped lead the ValleyCats to a 4-2 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in New York-Penn League action Monday night at historic Centennial Field.

Tri-City loaded the bases in the first with a one-out single and pair of walks before Stubbs blooped an 0-2 pitch from Lake Monsters starter Hogan Harris into shallow right to plate the first two runs of the game.

Vermont got a run back in the bottom of the first as Kyle McCann singled to center with two outs and Jordan Diaz followed with an RBI double to leftcenter, but that would be the only two hits for the Lake Monsters until a one-out Lawrence Butler single in the bottom of the ninth.

By then the ValleyCats had built the lead to 4-1 with a Juan Paulino two-out RBI double to left in the fourth inning followed by a successful double steal of second-n-home by Luis Santana and Korey Lee in the eighth after a Lee single had advanced Santana to third.

After a leadoff walk and Butler’s one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, the Lake Monsters scored a run when Diaz scored on a fielding error by third baseman Joe Perez. But Shea Berry recorded a strikeout and foul pop to seal the victory for Tri-City (14-21).

ValleyCats starter Peyton Battenfield allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts over first three innings, while reliever Derek West (1-1) two walks and three strikeouts over three hitless innings to earn the victory. Vermont’s Seth Shuman was charged with one run on two hits over 3 1/3 innings of relief, while Osvaldo Berrios one run and five strikeouts over three innings of work.

Vermont (15-22) heads to Hudson Valley for a three-game series against the Renegades starting 7:05 pm on Tuesday. The Lake Monsters return to Centennial for a three-game series against Brooklyn starting on Friday.