NILES - Mahoning Valley manager Travis Fryman had to like what he saw of the Scrappers in a 9-4 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters.

It's too bad Fryman wasn't around to see the finish. He was in the clubhouse, along with pitcher Mark Rodriguez, after both were ejected in the eighth inning by plate umpire Tim Eastman.

"I want to say a lot of good things about it. I'm not real thrilled about how it ended," Fryman said after the Scrappers improved their record to 10-13 Thursday at Eastwood Field. "In my view that was our best offensive performance of the year. It was good to see (Ryan) Blair and (Jeremy) Tice hit the ball out of the ballpark. They're both certainly capable of that."

Fryman and Rodriguez were ejected after Rodriguez hit Stephen Englund with a pitch. The ejections came shortly after Scrappers second baseman Isaias Velasquez was thrown out for pushing Derek Norris after an aggressive slide into second by Norris on a forceout.

Both managers were warned about pitchers throwing at batters. Fryman didn't think that Rodriguez intentionally hit Englund.

"Mark hit their guy with a slider," Fryman said. "That's what I was discussing. It was a breaking pitch. It wasn't a fastball. The umpire felt that once the warning was issued, it didn't matter. My discussion was that both (umpires) need to look at me and be 100 percent confident that's what the rule is. They decided to stick with it. I think they handled it appropriately."

Fryman was also in agreement with the decision to eject Velasquez, who became upset after appearing to exchange words with Norris.

"I've played the middle infield a long time and have seen a lot of them," Fryman said. "That was just good, aggressive baserunning on that man's part. Isaias is young and not used to any contact around the bag. My player's reaction was inappropriate. I would have pulled Isaias right then and there, but I didn't have another infielder."

Velasquez and Robby Alcombrack had three hits each to lead the Scrappers' 16-hit attack. Velasquez drove in two runs. Tice and Blair each had a solo home run.

"It felt good to get off the saddle and get on the board with a home run," Tice said. "Our offense came alive. It's fun to watch, and it's fun to be a part of."

Scrappers starting pitcher Kaimi Mead worked five innings in earning the win. He allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits, while striking out three and walking three.

Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Scrappers took the lead with three runs. Blair began the uprising with his homer. Alcombrack, who doubled, scored on a double by shortstop Walter Diaz. Diaz came around to score on single by Velasquez, ending the night of work for Monsters starting pitcher Tommy Milone.

Mahoning Valley stretched its lead to 7-4 in the sixth inning. Blair walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Diaz. Velasquez, who reached safely on a fielder's choice, moved to third on a single by Ramon Hernandez and scored on a throwing error by third baseman James Keithley.

The Scrappers added two insurance runs in the eighth inning. Alcombrack scored on a fielding error by first baseman Tyler Moore. Hernandez, who reached on Moore's error, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Lonnie Chisenhall.

Norris singled in two runs in the first inning to give the Monsters the lead. Steve Souza singled and scored an unearned run to give Vermont a 3-0 lead in the second.

Tice put the Scrappers on the board with a lead-off home run in the second inning.

The Scrappers scored an unearned run in the third inning when Keithley failed to catch a line drive off Tice's bat, allowing Velasquez to score.

Vermont scored an unearned run in the fourth inning when Englund, who reached second on a throwing error by Diaz, crossed the plate on a single by Dani Arias.

mmclain@tribtoday.com