Pitching and timely hitting prevailed as the Staten Island Yankees picked up a huge win, holding on to edge the Lowell Spinners 2-1 in Massachusetts Monday night.

Ryan Pope tossed six scoreless innings fanning eight and leadoff man Justin Snyder snapped out of his recent funk to deliver both RBI’s in the victory including a go-ahead eighth inning RBI double before 5,030 up north.

The win improved the wildcard leading Baby Bombers to 38-25- three better than the Spinners who dropped to 36-29.

Though Pope was in command, the 2007 third round selection out of Savannah College got a little help from his defense when center fielder Taylor Holiday fielded Tyler Weeden’s single and nailed Rafael Cabreja at third for an 8-3 putout to end the second.

The righthander only permitted one more baserunner retiring 12 of 13 including the final 10 batters he faced.

While he was taking care of business on the mound, Snyder drove home Staten Island’s first run in the fifth with an RBI infield hit which allowed first baseman Chris Raber to score from third. It snapped an 0-for-14 skid for the shortstop.

With left fielder Austin Krum on third already having stolen second during the inning, he broke for home but was caught to end it with the unusual play going 2-4-2-5-1.

The Spinners drew even by pushing across a run in the seventh with Pope out of the game. Bomber reliever Jacinto Gonell walked Jorge Jimenez. Two batters later, Rafael Cabreja doubled him in. Gonell settled down to strikeout the final two batters with Cabreja on third after swiping it.

But the Bombers responded right away thanks to Snyder. With Krum on first after a one out walk, the shortstop doubled into the left field gap allowing Krum to score the go-ahead run.

Gonell ran into more trouble in the eighth when he put the first two runners on forcing skipper Mike Gillespie to go to closer Jonathan Ortiz for a two inning save. After Carlos Fernandez-Oliva sacrificed them over into scoring position, Ortiz K’d Oscar Tejeda for the second out. After an intentional pass to Jimenez which loaded the bases, he then got Deshaun Brooks swinging to wiggle out of it.

Staten Island had a chance to pad their lead in the ninth but third baseman Braedyn Pruitt was thrown out at home.

Ortiz managed to escape in the ninth. After a leadoff walk to Cabreja, he fanned pinch hitter Brett Lewis and got Weeden looking. However, a David Marks double to left put runners on second and third with two outs. But the reliever bared down by getting Pedro Vasquez swinging to strikeout the side for his 12th save.

Notes: Pope went the first six permitting just three hits walking no one while fanning eight to earn a no-decision, lowering his ERA to 1.96. … Despite blowing the save Gonell got the win to improve to 2-0. … In two innings of work, Ortiz K’d five. … For Lowell, Cabreja finished 2-for-3 knocking in their only run on the night. … Craft gave up only one unearned run in six on just two hits striking out six. … Tony Bajoczky took the loss to fall to 0-1. … The Bombers finished their six-game road swing in Vermont and Lowell with a successful record of 4-2. They return home tonight to St. George and host Aberdeen in a two-game series.

Hilligoss tabbed South Atlantic year-end All-Star: Former Bomber third baseman Mitch Hilligoss was named a year-end All-Star by the South Atlantic League yesterday. The 22 year-old who helped lead the Bombers to consecutive Penn-League championships leads Charleston in hits (155), average (.314), doubles (33) and steals (33).

The ex-Penn League AS MVP is trying to lead the Riverdogs to their third postseason in four years along with the help of other former Bombers including Seth Fortenberry, Kevin Smith, James Cooper, Jonathan Hovis, Tim O’Brien, Grant Duff, Kyle Anson, Chase Odenreider, etc.

With a split in a doubleheader tonight at Roma, the Dogs trail Columbus by two and a half games with a crucial three-game series starting later tonight with a week to go.