Pippins’ Pitching Snaps Losing Streak in 6-1 Win Over Bells

The Yakima Valley Pippins' Brandon Williams (5-2) was unhittable for eight innings Tuesday night, setting a team record by throwing 11 strikeouts as the Pippins put the brakes on a four-game losing streak by beating the Bellingham Bells, 6-1.

In the second inning at Yakima County Stadium, Mitch Skaggs, who had a big night, got a double and moved to third on a Vince Fernandez groundout, then scored on the RBI single from Ryan Yamane to make it 1-0 Pippins.

The Pippins threatened to score in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but, the Bells held them back.

In the seventh, Bellingham got a little help on an errant throw to get their first and only run of the night.

With the teams tied at 1-1, the highlight of the ninth inning was big for Skaggs, who just missed a home run in an earlier inning. This time he connected on a huge home run to score two.

The Pippins finished off the ninth with three more runs.

The win keeps the Pippins (22-15) three games ahead of the Walla Walla Sweets and the Wenatchee AppleSox in the West Coast League's East Division.

The second game of the three-game series with Bellingham is set for 7:05 tonight. But with heavy rains forecast, the Pippins are watching the weather closely.

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