ValleyCats' Martinez shuts out Scrappers

Ronnie Martinez gave up only three hits to the Scrappers in a 6-0 win.
By KURT SNYDER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NILES -- The leader in pitching wins in the New York-Penn League did not disappoint Wednesday night at Eastwood Field.
Well, maybe he disappointed the 4,118 Mahoning Valley Scrappers fans in attendance.
Tri-City right-hander Ronnie Martinez dominated the Scrappers for seven innings while leading the ValleyCats to a 6-0 victory in the teams' first of three meetings this season.
Martinez, who picked up his seventh win and has an ERA of 2.00, allowed just three hits and never allowed two Scrappers to reach in an inning.
"He threw a great game. That's going to happen," said Scrappers manager Mike Sarbaugh. "He was throwing strikes with all of his pitches, keeping us off-balance. That's what you need to do to have success."
The Scrappers fared no better against right-handed reliever Bo Edmiston. He pitched the final two innings and had four strikeouts in earning his second save.
In a slump
The Scrappers (21-25) have now lost 10 of 12 to fall on the edge of playoff contention with a month remaining. The Scrappers now trail Hudson Valley by five games for the wild card spot. The Scrappers have scored more than three runs just twice during the stretch.
Left fielder and cleanup hitter Mike Butia was 0-for-3 Wednesday night. He said the Scrappers just have to work through the slump.
"We've just been in a little slump -- everyone hitting lately," he said. "That's baseball. That's how it goes. I don't even know what that guy's numbers were. I just try to go out there every day and get the job done."
For eight innings, the Scrappers' staff did its best to match Martinez. Right-hander Nelson Hiraldo made his second start since being added to the club and gave up two runs in four innings. Even though he picked up his second loss, the start was a far cry from his first one when he gave up six runs in three innings.
"The last time he threw, he threw pretty good, but when he got ahead in the count, he seemed to leave the ball out over the plate and got hurt," Sarbaugh said. "This time, he made some good adjustments, worked in a little bit more to keep them off the plate and threw well."
Reinforcement
The ValleyCats (28-17) gave Martinez all he needed in the top of the first against Hiraldo. Drew Sutton led off the game with a double down the right-field line. Two batters later, he scored on an infield hit up the middle by Ben Zobrist.
In the top of the third, the ValleyCats took a 2-0 lead when Hunter Pence hit a long home run down the left-field line.
Pence's damage was not done because he put an exclamation point on the night for the ValleyCats with a grand slam to left off of Scrappers reliever Kyle Collins to provide the final margin.
Butia said everybody is looking forward and working to improve despite the skid.
"No one likes to be here," he said. "You're not going to accept being here. We just didn't play well. It's part of the game. You just got to work through it, keep your head up and keep battling through, trying to have a good at-bat."
TRI-CITYMAHONING VALLEY
abrhbiabrhbi
Sutton 2b4210Reyes cf4010
Pence cf 5225Szabo 2b 4000
Zobrist ss4021Toregas c3000
Garza dh3000Butia lf3000
Caraballo rf4010Gimenez dh3000
Vital 1b4020Montgmry rf3010
Cooper lf 4100Pacheco 1b2000
Santangelo c3110Clem 3b3010
Babilonia 3b3010Finegan ss3000
Totals356106Totals28030
Tri-City101000004--6
Mahoning Valley000000000--0
E--Zobrist, Finegan 3. DP--Tri-City 3, Mahoning Valley 1. LOB--Tri-City 9, Mahoning Valley 2. 2B--Sutton HR--Pence 2. SH--Babilonia. SB--Vital, Cooper. CS--Zobrist.
IPHRERBBSO
Tri-City
Martinez W 7-1 730014
Edmiston SV 2 200002
Mahoning Valley
Hiraldo L 0-2 452215
Hernandez100001
Sutherland220011
Collins1 2-334331
Harris1-300011
Umpires--Home, Phil Mulroe; Bases, Howard Perez. T--2:26. A--4,118.
HOW THEY SCOREDFIRST INNING
TRI-CITY 1, MAHONING VALLEY 0
ValleyCats: Sutton doubled down right-field line. Pence grounded to short, Sutton to third. Zobrist singled to short, Sutton scored, Zobrist to second on Brian Finegan's throwing error. Garza struck out swinging. Caraballo struck out looking.
THIRD INNING
TRI-CITY 2, MAHONING VALLEY 0
ValleyCats: Sutton flied to center. Pence homered down the left-field line. Zobrist singled to right-center. Zobrist caught stealing by Toregas. Garza grounded to the pitcher.
NINTH INNING
TRI-CITY 6, MAHONING VALLEY 0
ValleyCats: Cooper reached on Finegan's fielding error. Santangelo singled to right, Cooper to second. Babilonia sacrifice bunt to first, Cooper to third, Santangelo to second. Sutton intentionally walked. Pence homered to left. Cooper, Santangelo, Sutton scored. Zobrist flied to center. Garza walked. Caraballo walked, Garza to second. Vital struck out.
ksnyder@vindy.com