Drillers' Ruiz stays hot with four hits

Keibert Ruiz batted .243 with a .598 OPS in April. His tear through May is making that seem like a distant memory.
Baseball's No. 32 overall prospect homered on a 4-for-4 night, reaching base five times as Double-A Tulsa drilled Arkansas, 8-2, at ONEOK Field.

Ruiz started his night with a leadoff single to center field in the second inning, advancing to second base on a balk by Mariners No. 25 prospectRicardo Sánchez and scoring on an RBI single to right by Jared Walker. The top Dodgers prospect then opened the fourth against the southpaw with a leadoff blast to left, his second homer of the season.
After singling to left-center in the fifth against right-hander Zac Grotz, Ruiz walked and scored in the seventh before notching his final knock off righty Darin Gillies -- a single to right-center in the eighth that plated No. 26 Dodgers prospect Cristian Santana.
Gameday box score
"I'm not sure you could ever expect anybody to do [what he's done at his age]," Dodgers assistant GM Brandon Gomessaid earlier this year. "Obviously, we were hoping that he was going to be a high-quality player. The bat-to-ball, the advanced knack for finding a barrel and just getting hits is pretty impressive."

Ruiz boosted his season slash line to .278/.344/.357 -- including a .341/.438/.439 line in May -- with the performance. Prior to a three-hit night Tuesday, the catcher had not posted more than two hits in a game this season. Thursday marked Ruiz's first four-hit outing since last April 19 with Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas.
"To be that young and to have that skill set behind the plate and in the box is special," Gomes said earlier this year.
Santana finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored while Cody Thomas reached five times on three singles and a pair of walks.