Defense key to victory
Friday Aug 17, 2001 Catcher Reinaldo Ruiz was the man of the hour in Martinsville's 2-1 upending of the Bluefield Orioles Thursday night in front of 1,269 at Hooker Field.
Ruiz, a 6-foot, 170-pound from Falcon, Venezuela, went 3-for-4 with a home run to power the Astros (24-29) past the Appalachian League East leading Orioles (26-26). Ruiz was also instrumental in a late-inning defensive stop that sustained Martinsville's one-run lead.
With one out and a runner on third in the top of the eighth, Bluefield's Bryan Bass flied out to deep right field. With the runner heading full tilt toward home, Trevor Mote unleashed a smoking, one-hop strike to Ruiz, who effectively blocked the plate and made the tag for the third out.
The victory trims Bluefield's lead to three games over Martinsville and gives the Astros some much-needed momentum heading into their three-game road trip to Bristol.
Martinsville returns Aug. 20 to begin a nine-game homestand. The Astros face the Kingsport Mets in a double-header Monday that begins at 6 p.m.
Joey DeLeon picked up his first win of the season, scattering five hits and striking out five over five innings.
Leonardo Santana came on in the ninth and retired the side to pick up his sixth save.
Martinsville coach Gregg Langbehn credited his pitching staff and Mote's bullet from left field for making the difference.
"Joey threw a great ballgame. He never really got in trouble and we played good defense behind him tonight," he said.
"Trevor's play from right field was huge. Reinaldo did a good job of coming up with the ball and making the tag.
"As it turned out, that saved the game for us," he said.
Martinsville's first run came in the second inning as John Fagan doubled, took third on Ruiz's single, and scored on Esteban Avila's base hit.
Bluefield scored its lone run in the top of the fifth inning. Leadoff batter Adam Thomas singled and later came around on Omar Rogers' double.
By CHRISTIAN DOLLARHITE Bulletin Sports Writer www.martinsvillebulletin.com