Eight is enough for Scorpions

A rarity in the Golden Baseball League resulted in something the Scorpions haven't seen in almost two weeks - a win.

Yuma starter Javier Ortiz and Tucson starter Vince Davis clashed in a pitchers' duel Wednesday night, with Ortiz and the Scorpion bullpen eventually prevailing 2-1 and snapping an eight-game losing streak.

"We pitched well, the infield and outfield is playing well, and everything came together," coach Boris Villa said through a translator. "We can come through any time we have a game like that and we bring (closer Emiliano) Fruto in. We're going to have a good shot."

Each starter pitched seven shutout innings before the bullpens took over. Dorian Castro (2-2) pitched a scoreless top of the eighth for Yuma (3-8 second half, 13-35 overall), aided by a stellar defensive play by center fielder Dioner Avila.

Rene Garcia (0-2) didn't fare as well for Tucson in his half of the eighth. Carlos Balcazar led off with a single, Deivis Rivadeneira drew a walk, then Adolfo Gomez bunted them over to second and third.

Garcia unloaded a wild pitch to score Balcazar, then Reynaldo Rodriguez came up with a triple, scoring a much-needed insurance run.

Tucson (2-1, 19-22) scored one in the ninth and got runners to second and third with no outs, but Fruto struck out the next three batters to end the game for his eighth save.

Ortiz pitched seven innings and allowed four hits, one walk and struck out three.

"He pitched excellent," Villa said. "He's one of the best pitchers in the league."

Fruto ran into some problems in the ninth. Andrew Marshall led off with a double, advanced on a wild pitch then scored on a single by Jim Rushford. Lyndon Poole pinch ran for Rushford and went to third when Mayobanex Santana grounded to Deivis Rivadeneira. The ball went between his legs and Santana went to second.

But Fruto struck out the side to escape the jam.

In the eighth, Castro allowed a leadoff double to Ryan Priddy, then a one-out walk to Lino Garcia. Dustin Yount - son of MLB Hall of Famer Robin Yount - popped to shallow center, with Garcia taking off for third. But Avila came full speed to make the diving catch, then easily doubled Garcia off second.

Yuma had runners at second and third in the second with one out but failed to score, wasting the single by Carlos Arroyo and double by Avila. Arroyo also reached third in the seventh, the only Scorpion to make it that far off Davis, who allowed four hits and struck out three.

The teams play the rubber game of the three-game set at 7:05 p.m. today at Desert Sun Stadium.