The Indianapolis Indians jumped out to an early advantage with a 4-run 2nd inning and held off a late surge by the Columbus Clippers to earn a 5-4 win that gave them a key 2-1 series victory over their division rivals on Sunday night at Huntington Park.
Daniel Cabrera (6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) started and won, improving to 6-6. Evan Meek (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER) needed Doug Slaten (0.1 IP, 1 BB) to bail him out. Tim Wood (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) closed out the victory for his 17th save.
The Indians offensive stars were many.
--Alex Presley was 1 for 4, with a RS, a BB, and 2 RBIs.--Brock Holt was 3 for 5, with a RS. --Jose Tabata was 3 for 5, with a double and an RBI.--Matt Hague was 2 for 5, with an RBI. --Yamaico Navarro was 2 for 4, including his 8th HR. --Tony Sanchez was 1 for 3, with 2 BBs and RS.
Indy is now 74-49. Their magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to 12.
Kyle McPherson (5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR) made his 2nd career start for Indianapolis but couldn't gather requisite run support in an eventual 3-1 loss as the Indianapolis Indians fell to the Rochester Red Wings at Frontier Field. McPherson is 0-1.
Jose Diaz followed McPherson, and gave up an earned run in 1 2/3 innings. Bryan Morris pitched a clean inning, with a K.
The Indians mustered their lone run in the 9th. With 2 outs, 2B Anderson Hernandez hit a double to left field, before scoring on a groundball single by C Tony Sanchez. T Sanchez and Brock Holt finished 2 for 4. A Hernandez's double was Indy's only XBH.
Despite the loss, Indianapolis (74-50) saw its magic number for clinching a playoff berth fall to 11 as the Columbus Clippers fell 6-3 to the visiting Durham Bulls on Tuesday night.
Right-handed starter Esmerling Vasquez stymied the Indianapolis offense for 7 scoreless innings on Wednesday night at Frontier Field, striking out 10 Indians en route to earning his 8th win as the Rochester Red Wings rolled to a 6-2 victory.
1B Matt Hague ended a would-be shutout in the top of the 9th inning when his 1-out, 2-run home run also scored RF Jose Tabata, who had singled to lead off the frame. The Indians have now scored 3 runs in the 9th inning of the first 2 games of the series while being shutout across both games' first 8 innings.
It was Hague's 3rd home run of the season and 2nd hit of the game. 2B Brock Holt also produced a 2-hit game for the Indians and has now collected 11 hits in 8 games since his promotion to Triple-A on August 7.
Justin Wilson (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) started for the Indians, and pitched well, but not well enough. The loss drops his record to 9-6. Dan McCutchen got lit up for 3 runs in an inning of relief, and JoJo Reyes gave up another run in his inning.
Despite the loss, Indianapolis (74-51) saw its magic number for clinching a playoff berth fall to 10 as the Columbus Clippers also lost again.
Left fielder Wilkin Ramirez played the role of hero for the Red Wings on Thursday night, blooping a 10th-inning walkoff single into left-center field to deliver Rochester a 2-1 win over the Indianapolis Indians at Frontier Field.
Wood (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 WP) was saddled with the loss, his 6th of the season, 1 inning after salvaging the contest by extinguishing a 9th-inning rally by Rochester.
The Indians wasted a good outing from Rick VandenHurk (8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). Doug Slaten got 2 outs in the 9th, allowing a hit and a BB.
The Indians scored their run in the 2nd. After singles by 1B Jeff Clement and RF Brandon Boggs and a walk by 3B Dallas McPherson loaded the bases with no outs, C Jose Morales lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Clement. The Indians were unable to capitalize further in the inning, however, as Anderson Hernandez struck out, and Alex Presley grounded to 1B.
Boggs finished 2 for 4. Brock Holt stayed hot, finishing 2 for 4.
The Indians (74-52) have now lost 3 in a row.
The 1st home run of shortstop Brock Holt's Triple-A career proved to be the game-winner on Friday night as the Indianapolis Indians avoided a series sweep with a 4-3 win over the Rochester Red Wings at Frontier Field.
Holt finished 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, and has now produced multiple hits in five straight games. In 10 games with Indianapolis, Holt is batting .410 (16-for-39).
Dallas McPherson finished 2 for 4. He and Holt had 5 of Indy's 8 total hits.
The jolt from Holt delivered RHP Chris Leroux his 3rd win. Leroux (5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR) had his worst outing since joining the starting rotation, but is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 5 starts.
Supporting Leroux were RHP Even Meek (2,0 IP, 1 H, 4 K), RHP Bryan Morris (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K), and RHP Tim Wood (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K), who earned his 18th save.
Indy is now 75-52.
The Indianapolis Indians scored the eventual game-winning run in the top of the 9th on the 4th error of the night by Syracuse, before tacking on 3 more insurance scores on an RBI single by Matt Hague and 2-run triple by Dallas McPherson on their way to a 6-2 series opening win over the Chiefs at Alliance Bank Stadium.
The 4-run rally by the Tribe made a winner out of reliever Daniel McCutchen (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K), who impoved to 6-2. After McCutchen, LHP Doug Slaten (1.0 IP) would toss a scoreless 9th to seal the victory.
McCutchen was forced into long relief duty after Tribe starter Phil Irwin lasted just 4 innings in his Triple-A debut. Despite lasting just 4, Irwin (4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) still turned in an impressive performance collecting eight of 12 outs by way of the strikeout.
Hague finished 3 for 5. Brandon Boggs was 1 for 4, with 2 RBIs.
Indy is now 76-52.
Brett Carroll blasted a 2-out 3-run home run in the bottom of the 7th inning to help rally the Syracuse Chiefs past the Indianapolis Indians 5-3 on Sunday night at Alliance Bank Stadium.
Jeff Locke (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) started, pitched well, and left with Indy holding a 3-2 lead. However, JoJo Reyes (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) served up a meatball to Carroll, and took the loss, to fall to 5-2. Logan Kensing (1.1 IP, 2 SO) finished up.
Brock Holt stayed hot, finishing 2 for 4 with an RBI, and running his hitting streak to 8 games. Alex Presley was 2 for 5. Dallas McPherson was 2 for 4, including his 13th HR. And Brandon Boggs was 2 for 3 with a double, a BB, and an RBI.
Indy is now 76-53. Despite the loss, the Indians still saw their magic number for an International League West Division Championship fall to 6 as the second-place Columbus Clippers fell to the Louisville Bats 9-8.
After projected starter Kyle McPherson was recalled by Pittsburgh earlier in the day, left hander Kris Johnson came to the rescue, as the Indianapolis Indians went on to shut out the Syracuse Chiefs 2-0 on Monday night at Alliance Bank Stadium. Johnson (5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO), who returned to the Tribe after going 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA across 5 appearances (4 starts) with Double-A Altoona, was making his first start for Indianapolis since game 2 of a doubleheader on July 21 in Toledo. The southpaw delivered in a big way, surrendering just 2 singles to earn the victory and improve to 5-2 on the season.
Following Johnson, reliever Bryan Morris (2.2 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) also turned in a dominant performance allowing just a single. Morris has now allowed just 2 hits while striking out 7 over his last 4.2 innings. Morris would give way to Tribe closer Tim Wood (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) who would nail down the Tribe victory with his 19th save of the season.
1B Jeff Clement, who had not connected on a homer for the Tribe since July 31st, led of the 2nd inning with a solo blast to center field for his team-leading 16th longball of the season to put the Tribe ahead 1-0. Clement finished 2 for 4. LF Brandon Boggs would keep things rolling for the Tribe as he followed Clement's homer with a triple, before speeding home when C Tony Sanchez lifted a sacrifice fly to left to extend the Indians' advantage to 2-0. The three-bagger was Boggs' 5th and gave the Indians 43 triples on the season, which at the time were 15 more than any other team in the International League.
Brock Holt collected a single and 2 doubles on Monday night to give him 22 hits and an unbelievable .423 batting average over his first 13 Triple-A games. The 3 base knocks also extended Holt's current team-best hitting streak to 9 games during which he is batting a ridiculous .500 (19-for-38).
Also of note, Alex Presley was 1 for 2, with 3 BBs.
Indy is now 77-53.
Good morning Goose,
Magic number down to four for the Indians.
Rick VandenHurk allowed just an unearned run on 2 singles and 2 walks while striking out 8 over 7.1 innings to lead the Indianapolis Indians to a 2-1 win over the Syracuse Chiefs in the series finale on Tuesday night at Alliance Bank Stadium.
VandenHurk (7.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO) continued a superb month of August during which he has posted a 2-1 record and 1.95 ERA (6 ER in 27.2 IP) with 27 strikeouts and just 6 walks across 4 starts. He's now 12-4.
Evan Meek (0.2 IP, 1 H) earned his 8th hold, and Tim Wood (1.0 IP, 2 SO) his 20th save.
Alex Presley was 2 for 3 with a BB. Tony Sanchez was 2 for 3. Chase d'Arnaud hit a 2-run HR, his 5th. Brock Holt extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Indy is now 78-53.
Chase d'Arnaud went 4-for-5 with an RBI and 3 runs scored on Wednesday night, delivering a game-winning, ground-rule double in the bottom of the 7th inning to lead Indianapolis past the Louisville Bats 7-5 at Victory Field.
Chris Leroux (5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 2 HR) started, and got knocked around. Duke Welker cleaned up for Leroux in the 6th, striking out both batters he faced. Jo-Jo Reyes (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) got the win, to improve to 6-2. Doug Slaten (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) earned his 10th save, giving Tim Wood a night off.
The Indians pounded out 11 hits, led, besides by d'Arnaud, by Alex Presley, who went 3 for 4 with a BB, an RBI, and 2 RS. Dallas McPherson went 2 for 3, with 2 BBs and 2 RBIs. And Matt Hague hit his 4th HR, and drove in 2.
Also, Brock Holt went 0 for 4, stopping his hitting streak at 10.
Indy is now 79-53.
Phil Irwin (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) went 6 strong in his 2nd AAA start, as the Indians cruised to a 6-1 win Thursday. Irwin is now 1-0.
Logan Kensing, Justin Wilson, and Tim Wood each pitched a scoreless inning, to seal the win.
Chase d'Arnaud was 2 for 3, including his 5th HR. Matt Hague was 2 for 4 with an RBI. And Tony Sanchz was 2 for 4, with his 10th double, and 2 RBIs. Those 3 had 6 of Indy's 8 hits.
Indy is 80-53, and has clinched the IL West.
McCutchen is back with Indy...Mercer reinstated.
https://twitter.com/DanielMcCutchen/status/238823333620236289
Jeff Locke (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) showed that Indianapolis has no plans of slowing down after winning the International League West Division championship, tossing 6 scoreless on Friday night to lead the Indians to a 4-2 win and a 3-game sweep of the Louisville Bats in front of 13,095 fans at Victory Field. Locke improved to 10-5, and ranks in the top 5 for both ERA and Ks in the IL.
Bryan Morris pitched a perfect 7th. Logan Kensing gave up both Bats runs in the 8th. And Dan McCutchen pitched a perfect 9th to record his 2nd save.
The Indians pounded out 10 hits, led by Brock Holt going 3 for 4, to improve his AAA average to .400. By Dallas McPherson going 2 for 4 with his 14th HR, a 2-run shot. By Anderson Hernandez going 3 for 3. And by Brandon Boggs hitting his 24th double to drive in 1.
Indy is now 81-53.