Daily Archives: 11:41 pm

Indianapolis Indians� 1,� Toledo Mud Hens� 0 (box)

Indians’ starter Jeremy Powell earned his 9th win of the season with 7.1 shutout innings against the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio tonight.� Powell walked 5 batters and hit one, but he allowed only 2 hits.� The Indians posted only 4 hits, but made them count, as they squeaked past the Mud Hens.

The first three Indians’ batters of the game did all the scoring the Indians needed.� LF Kevin Melillo opened the game by taking a walk on four straight balls.� Melillo quicky stole second base, then moved over to third when 3B Akinori Iwamura lined a single into center field.� With runners on the corners, CF Alex Presley (photo) slipped a single through the hole on the right side of the infield, scoring Melillo from third and putting Iwamura on second base.� The rally came to an abrupt halt, when RF Brandon Moss flied out to center field, and Iwamura was out at third as he tried to tag up after the catch, on a fine throw in from CF Casper Wells.� DH John Bowker struck out to end the inning.

That was it — the rest of the game was two rows of donuts on the scoreboard.� The Indians clung to that one-run lead, as Jeremy Powell (photo below) and two relievers, Justin Thomas and Jean Machi, threw 9 shutout innings.� After the game, Powell admitted that he had not felt really comfortable on the mound and with how he was pitching early in the game, and the walks went along with that.� Powell threw 108 pitches, for strikes, but he threw key pitches when it counted.� He walked two batters in the 1st and one in the 2nd, but left them on base.� He walked 2B Scott Sizemore to begin the 3rd inning, but got 3B Justin Henry to bounce into a double play.

The Mud Hens’ first hit of the game came in the 4th, when Casper Wells led off with a single into left field.� Moments later, C Jason Jaramillo threw out Wells as he tried to steal second base.� The other hit was a two-out double by SS Cale Iorg in the 5th.� Powell walked Sizemore again to put two Mud Hens on the bases, but then he got Henry to tap back to the mound for an easy third out.� Powell retired the Mud Hens in order in both the 6th and 7th innings, and he made it 8 straight batters retired when he got Iorg to fly out to center to begin the 8th.� Then he hit Sizemore (who walked 3 times in the game, so did not have an official at bat) with a pitch, and that was the end of Powell’s night.� “I was happy with my last couple of innings, and all I can say is that I was able to go deep into the game and keep the one-run lead,” said Powell after the game.

Toledo native Justin Thomas relieved Powell with one out and one on in the 8th.� He did walk LF Jeff Frazier, but got a strikeout on either side of the walk, to end the inning and keep the shutout going.� The southpaw Thomas came back out to begin the bottom of the 9th, to pitch to the first Toledo batter, left-handed hitting 1B Michael Bertram.� Bertram popped out to third base.� Then manager Frank Kremblas brought on the righty Jean Machi to face the next batter, right-handed hitting RF Ben Guez. Guez lifted a long long fly ball to right field, making the crowd gasp.� RF Brandon Moss went back and back, and with his own back against the right field wall, made the catch for the second out.� Switch-hitting DH Max Leon worked the count full, then took a high and outside pitch from Machi for a walk, but Machi needed only one pitch to get C Max St. Pierre to pop out to 2B Brian Friday in short center field to end the game.