Niles, Ohio – The Scrappers scored a run in the bottom of the first inning but were held scoreless the rest of the way and lost to the Auburn Doubledays, 4-1.
Jordan Smith singled in Tony Wolters with two outs in the first to make it 1-0, the only run the Scrappers scored in the game.
Auburn was scoreless until the fifth, when Hendry Jimenez hit a two-run home run to put the Doubledays ahead, 2-1. The home run, his second of the series, came after starter Will Roberts made a throwing error that allowed Justin Miller to reach first base. Roberts picked up the loss to fall to 1-2. Miller hit a solo home run off Drew Rucinski with two outs in the seventh inning and the Doubledays added a run in the top of the ninth off Ramon Cespedes.
Nathan Karns started for Auburn and allowed one run in six innings of work. He picked up the win to improve to 3-2. Richie Mirowski pitched the next two innings and Manuel Rivera pitched a perfect ninth to earn his second save of the season.
Mahoning Valley trails Auburn by five games in the division with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
The Scrappers begin a three-game series against the Jamestown Jammers on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Eastwood Field.
