Ruiz, 51s walk off with another win

Two-year-old R.J. Ruiz swung his little toy bat with abandon in a lively Las Vegas locker room Sunday after the 51s rallied for six runs in the ninth inning to gain their second straight walk-off win at Cashman Field.

R.J. was trying to imitate his father, 51s first baseman Randy Ruiz, who moments earlier had ripped a game-winning single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to cap his team's comeback from a 5-0 deficit and lift Las Vegas to a thrilling 6-5 victory over Oklahoma City.

"My last at-bat, it's my time to shine. I have to go out there and drive in the run," said Ruiz, a three-time minor league batting champion. "I'm here to drive in big runs in big situations, and I'm just happy I had the opportunity to drive in the game-winning run."

The 51s (18-25) won their second consecutive game when trailing after the eighth inning, improving to 2-20 in that situation this season. Las Vegas also rallied in the ninth inning Saturday, when it scored four runs en route to another 6-5 win over the RedHawks (18-23).

"It shows a lot about the team's character," said second baseman Howie Clark, who drilled a game-winning, two-run double Saturday and tied Sunday's game 5-5 with a sacrifice fly. "We were on the other end of a few of those earlier in the season, but with Bass (manager Mike Basso) always telling us to hang in there, we've got to keep playing. We've got to play nine innings."

Ruiz, hitting .304, led off the ninth by reaching first on an error by RedHawks third baseman Esteban German. J.P. Arencibia walked, and, after a groundout by Toronto Blue Jays top prospect Travis Snider, Aaron Mathews walked to load the bases and chase Oklahoma City starter Tommy Hunter, who entered the ninth intent on finishing a shutout.

Right-hander Elizardo Ramirez, who entered tied for the fourth-lowest ERA in the Pacific Coast League at 2.66, relieved and was greeted by consecutive run-scoring singles by Kyle Phillips and Kevin Howard that made the score 5-2.

Slugger Brett Harper, batting .313, pinch hit for Angel Sanchez and promptly smoked a two-run double to right field to close the gap to 5-4.

Buck Coats, who leads Las Vegas with a .318 average, was intentionally walked to load the bases for Clark, who lifted a fly ball deep enough to center field to tie the game at 5 and set the stage for Ruiz.

"It just gets contagious. It's fun," Clark said of the game-winning rally. "Obviously they put Buck on to try to get a double play, so I was looking for something to lift. It's always nice to drive in the game-winning run, but in that situation, with Randy hitting behind me, I was looking to tie it up.

"(Ruiz is) a guy who thrives with men in scoring position. ... We had the right guys in the right situation."

Ruiz's teammates mobbed him as he rounded first after his winning hit.

"It's always exciting, especially at home," Ruiz said. "If we can keep on winning games, we can creep up to first or second place, and maybe in a month we're up there."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.