SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Pirates prospect Josh Bell broke out of a rare slump with two hits and an RBI, but the effort wasn’t nearly enough to match Darnell Sweeney’s (LAD) 3-for-5, five-RBI effort in the Scottsdale Scorpions’ (11-19) 8-4 loss to the Glendale Desert Dogs (13-15) on Tuesday night at Scottsdale Stadium.

Bell’s resurgence came in the wake of Glendale’s bats tagging Scorpions starter Rob Whelan (NYM) for five runs on seven hits in just 2 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander’s bullpen was able to stop the bleeding through four scoreless outs before Sweeney followed his two-run double from the second inning with a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth.

Scottsdale was held without a run through the first three innings before plating lone scores in four straight frames from the fourth to the seventh.

Bell sparked the offense in the fourth by driving in Brandon Nimmo (NYM), who had singled and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches to open the frame. The Bucco prospect Bell would also double in the seventh as part of his fifth multi-hit effort that snapped the recent 0-for-7 skid.

Roman Quinn (PHI) matched Bell’s two knocks and drove in two additional runs with an RBI single in the sixth and solo homer in the seventh.

Sweeney singled home a final Desert Dogs run in the eighth to cap his five-RBI effort.

Author’s Note:
This content was originally published on the Indianapolis Indian’s official blog, “The Inside Pitch.”