Published: July 24, 2008 11:54 pm            

Small ball

Danville hits way past O’s

BLUEFIELD — The Danville Braves did not dazzle. They did not make a lot of spectacular catches or hit any towering home runs. The thing was, they did not have to.

Danville banged out a host of small hits and even though individually they may not have been impressive, together those 14 knocks provided the foundation so the Braves could build a 6-4 win over the Bluefield Orioles Thursday night at Bowen Field.

“We’ve been spinning our wheels in mud lately on offense,” said Danville manager Paul Runge. “We haven’t really been doing a whole lot offensively for the last couple weeks. We’ve been struggling with the bats and tonight we made better contact. We got some key RBI at-bats from guys throughout the order.”

Bluefield manager Orlando Gomez wasn’t pleased with the pitching of Orioles’ starter Raul Rivero. In four-plus innings, he gave up four runs and 10 hits but also struck out three before losing his control in the fifth. With the loss, Rivero dropped to 1-3 for the season.

“I think the key for the game and everything…I thought it was Rivero, the tempo of Rivero pitching,” Gomez said. “The way he handled himself, his poise on the mound and everything I think was kind-of bad.

“And I think that he’s a better pitcher than that. But the way that he handled himself on the mound today, he gave up those runs because he wants to give up those runs.”

Gomez was asked how he thought Rivero would react to his performance tonight.

“That depends on himself,” Gomez said. “If he wants to pitch well, he’ll have to pitch well. If he doesn’t, then that’s his own problem.”

For Danville, the focus was on a great performance rather than a poor one. Chais Fuller smacked five singles in his five at-bats, scoring two runs and driving in a third. When the assembled media came calling after the game, Fuller’s teammates pointed straight to his locker.

“I pretty much just seen the ball good,” Fuller said. “I went up there looking for a good pitch and I got the pitch and capitalized on it.

“I was just trying to hit the ball up the middle. You can see the ball a little bit better. Five-for-five, I can’t feel bad with that.”

“He’s done a solid job for us,” Runge said. “He’s been a very valuable guy on our team. He’s played a number of different positions for us this year. He puts the bat on the ball. He can bunt. He can hit-and-run. And he’s been a pretty steady player for us defensively as well.”

“He had a good evening,” Gomez said. “He swung the bat well. He got some clutch hitting and he had five singles and everything. You have to give credit to the guy. He makes adjustments, hits the ball good, you have to tip your hat to the guy.”

Four other Braves slapped a pair of hits. Joel Campusano had a 2-for-4 game and scored a pair of runs. Shayne Moody had a 2-for-5 night, including a double, and crossed for a run. Gerardo Rodriguez also contributed a pair of singles in his 2-for-5 performance and drove in three runs. Will White also singled twice in a 2-for-4 outing and scored once.

“Hitting’s contagious,” Fuller said. “When you’ve got a couple guys hitting in the lineup it makes everybody feel they should be doing the same thing. It helps the whole team out and it’s like a little domino effect.”

Buck Britton led Bluefield. His 3-for-4 night included a double and two runs. But Ronnie Welty was the only other Baby Bird to get a hit.

Danville starter Angelo Paulino worked into the fifth inning, going 4 1-3 innings. In that time, he allowed three runs on three hits while striking out five and walking two. Cody Railsback relieved Paulino and in his 3 2-3 innings gave up just one run on two hits. After striking out four to just one walk, Railsback got the win and improved his record to 3-1. Craig Kimbrel threw a perfect ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season.

“Paulino and Railsback have been kind-of pitching almost on the same day of late,” Runge said. “Either one of them would start and the other one’s been following him. So those two guys gave some quality innings tonight.

“And of course Kimbrel came on in the ninth and picked up the save. He’s been the go-to guy all year. And he’s been pretty darn-near perfect all year.”

Danville (21-16) will face Bluefield (14-22) tonight in the final game of their three-game set at Bowen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Danville wants to leave Nature’s Air-Conditioned City with a road series win.

“We haven’t been doing a very good job of that of late,” Runge said. “So that would be something that we would like to do. Right now, we’re just trying to get ourselves back on track. We’re just trying to do what we can to try and put something together.”

“The focus for everybody is to win games,” Gomez said. “We play well in the field. We catch the ball. We turn double plays. We did the things we were supposed to do. Our focus is always to play well, play hard and try to win every game we can.”

—Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com

At Bowen Field

Danville…..........................002 022 000 — 6 14 3

Bluefield…........................002 011 000 — 4 4 0

Angelo Paulino, Cody Railsback (5), Craig Kimbrel (9) and Jesus Sucre. Raul Rivero, Josh Faiola (5), Jose Barajas (9) and Dustin Black. W—Cody Railsback (3-1). L—Raul Rivero (1-3); S—Craig Kimbrel (6). HR—None. Att.—832.

        

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