Cats wins seventh straight behind strong outing by Ruiz

TROY, NY ( NEW10 ) — The Tri-City ValleyCats (26-23) rolled to its seventh consecutive victory on Friday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium and defeated the Sussex County Miners (17-31) 6-2.

Both teams traded a pair of solo home runs in the first five innings of the series opener. Ian Walters went deep against Kellen Brothers in the second for his fifth long ball of the season. Jason Agresti cleared the fences against Alfredo Ruiz in the fifth to make it a 1-1 contest.

Tri-City pulled ahead in the sixth. Chris Burgess doubled, and Walters brought him in with a two-bagger to give the ValleyCats a 2-1 lead.

Tri-City kept the line moving in the seventh. Robbie Merced, Tyson Gingerich, and Elvis Peralta all singled to place a runner at every square base. Dylan Broderick cleared the bases with a double to make it a 5-1 affair.

The ValleyCats tacked on a run in the eighth. Demias Jimerson reached on an error from Cory Acton and stole second. Gingerich picked up an RBI single off Ronnie Voacolo to put the ‘Cats on top, 6-1.

Arlo Marynczak came in for Ruiz in the ninth and surrendered a homer to Oraj Anu, which cut the deficit to 6-2. Marynczak then settled in to finish the game and seal the victory for Tri-City.

Ruiz (2-0) earned the win. The southpaw was dealing for eight frames, yielding a run on six hits, walking one, and striking out six. He joined Jhon Vargas as the only other starter to work eight innings or more in a game for the ‘Cats this year.

Brothers (1-5) received the loss. He went six frames, giving up five runs on 10 hits, and struck out four.

Tri-City goes for the series win over Sussex County on Saturday, July 6 ^th . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM.

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