Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs  4,  Indianapolis Indians  3
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The Indianapolis Indians were in the lead for most of the game tonight at Coca-Cola park in Allentown, PA, but the Iron Pigs staged a 8th inning rally to take the win.  

SS Chase d'Arnaud began the game with a double into right field, skipping between the Iron Pigs' 1B Cody Overbeck and the first base bag.  2B Brian Friday singled into left field, and d'Arnaud rounded third and headed for the plate as former Indy Indian (2010) LF Brandon Moss made the throw in from left field.  Moss' throw was on time, and another former Indian (2009-10) C Erik Kratz made the catch and tried for the tag.  But d'Arnaud was faster, and Kratz lost the ball when he went for the tag, and the Tribe had a 1-0 lead.  LF Alex Presley flied out to left field, and again Moss' throw to the infield was not in time, so that Friday was safe when he tagged up and raced for third.  But Moss got it right on his third try -- RF John Bowker also flied out to left, and Moss turned it into a double play when this throw to the plate was on target and on time, allowing Kratz to tag out Friday as he tried to tag up and score from third.  

Back-to-back singles by 3B Andy Marte and 1B Matt Hague led off the 2nd inning for the Indians.  C Wyatt Toregas bounced into an around-the-horn double play, eliminating Hague at second, but allowing Marte to reach third base.  CF Gorkys Hernandez grounded to short, but he was fast enough to beat out the throw to first, earning an infield single and an RBI, as Marte scrambled home from third to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.  

Garrett Olson began his night on the mound with 4 perfect innings.  Moss broke up the (brief) no-hitter with a double to lead off the 5th inning, then was out in a double play.  RF Delwyn Young flied out to center, then Hernandez's throw in to third base allowed Marte to tag out Moss as he tried to advance to third.  

The Altoona Curve have a scheduled day off today (Monday), and the West Virginia Power are off for the first day of their All-Star Break.  The All-Star Game will be played in Delmarva on Tuesday, with Brandon Cumpton, Jameson Taillon, and Dan Grovatt representing the Power.  


Auburn Doubledays  7 ,  State College Spikes  6
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Pirates' 2nd round draft pick from 2010, Stetson Allie, made his professional debut tonight, as the starting pitcher for the State College Spikes, though he did not factor into the decision.  Allie struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a single, struck out the next batter, and gave up an RBI double.  A line out ended the inning.  The second inning went better, as Allie retired three Auburn batters in order, including another strikeout.  

The third inning was another tough one for Allie.  A single and a walk opened the inning.  After a fly out, both runners stole the next base, and a walk loaded the bases.  Allie also walked the next batter, forcing in a run.  That signaled the end of his evening.  Cliff Archibald relieved Allie, but Archibald also walked in a run (charged to Allie), before getting the inning-ending double play.  Allie was responsible for 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts, in 2.1 innings.  
State College got onto the scoreboard with a run in the 3rd.  SS Kirk Singer led off with a double, then DH Carlos Mesa singled, moving Singer to third.  C Samuel Gonzalez's RBI single brought in Singer, to cut the Auburn lead to 3-1.  The Spikes tied the game in the 4th.  1B Walker Gourley led off with a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch, then to third on a ground out.  Singer walked, then CF Taylor Lewis' sacrifice fly scored Gourley.  Singer stole second base, then scored on RF Justin Benscko's RBI single.  

Archibald went on to pitch the 4th and 5th innings, allowing a walk and a single, but keeping Auburn scoreless.  Emmanuel De Leon relieved Archibald to begin the 6th inning, and gave up only a double in that inning.  With two outs in the 7th, De Leon gave up a double and a 2-run homer.  The Spikes got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning, with a single by Benscko, a stolen base and a missed catch error to put Benscko onto third, and a sacrifice fly by Gonzalez.  

De Leon started the top of the 8th by giving up a walk and a stolen base.  After two outs, a single, a throwing error by Singer, and a double gave Auburn 2 more runs, for a 7-4 lead.  Jesus Brito relieved De Leon and ended the 8th inning with a fly out.  Singer tried to make up for his error with an RBI double after a single by 3B Brian Sharp, bringing the score to 7-5.  Brito pitched a scoreless top of the 9th.  The Spikes tried for another rally in the bottom of the 9th.  With one out, Benscko singled, then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on a second wild pitch.  After a walk to Mesa, Gonzalez brought in Benscko with a sacrifice fly.  But a strikeout ended the inning and the game without the Spikes being able to catch up.                                       

Indianapolis Indians  8,  Rochester Red Wings  3
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Brad Lincoln earned his 6th win of the season, pitching into the 8th inning at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY this afternoon.  The win meant that the two teams split the 4-game series.   Lincoln gave up 3 runs (one earned) to the Red Wings, and struck out 7 batters.  The Indians posted 16 hits, with each member of the lineup picking up at least one hit.  2B Brian Friday led the offense with 4 hits (4-for-5), and DH John Bowker drove in 3 runs.

The Tribe jumped right out to an early lead with 4 runs in the top of the 1st.  SS Chase d'Arnaud began the game with a single into left field, and a wild pitch moved him to second base.  Friday lined a single into left field, and d'Arnaud scored from second base.  LF Alex Presley grounded to short, and a force at second removed Friday, but Presley was safe at first base.  Presley came in on Bowker's 2-run homer for a 3-0 lead.  Three singles -- by 3B Andy Marte, RF Miles Durham, and C Wyatt Toregas -- brought in Marte for the 4th run of the inning.  The Indians added 2 more runs in the 3rd.  1B Matt Hague doubled with one out, and he scored on Toregas' liner into left field.  CF Gorkys Hernandez walked, then d'Arnaud singled into left field.  Toregas scored easily on d'Arnaud's hit, but Hernandez was thrown out at the plate when he tried to come around and score from first.  Indians up, 6-0.

Lincoln took the mound in the bottom of the 1st with a 4-run lead in his pocket.  He gave up a single to SS Trevor Plouffe, the first of three for him in the game, but erased him with a double play.  Three singles, including one by Plouffe, and a fielding error by Hernandez brought in two runs for the Red Wings in the bottom of the 3rd.  Lincoln retired the side in order of the 4th, and he worked around two singles in the 5th.  He gave up another unearned run in the 6th, on a single and a fielding error by Presley.  The Red Wings went down in order in the 7th also, then began the 8th with two singles and a strikeout.  That was all for Lincoln, who allowed 9 hits and a walk on the way to the 3 runs.  He did not hit any batters (sometimes a problem for Lincoln, who likes to pitch inside).  He threw exactly 100 pitches, with 66 strikes.  Justin Thomas came on in relief, and got two quick outs to end the inning without a run scoring.  

The Indians threatened again in the 4th, when Friday led off with a double.  He moved to third base on a ground out.  Bowker grounded to short, where Plouffe made the scoop and fired back to the plate, where Friday was tagged out.  Presley singled in the 7th, went to second base on a ground out, and on to third on a wild pitch, but was left there when the inning ended.  

Another rally brought in 2 more runs for the Tribe in the top of the 9th.  Friday also opened this inning with a double (ground-rule).  He scored from second on Bowker's line drive single into deep right field, and Bowker moved to second base on the throw in from the outfield.  Bowker advanced to third base on Marte's ground out, and scored on Hague's RBI single.  

Jose Ascanio pitched the bottom of the 9th for the Tribe.  He pitched a perfect inning, with a ground out and two strikeouts, in his second appearance since returning to the Indians from Pittsburgh.  

The Indians will be traveling to Lehigh Valley, where they will have 4 games against the Iron Pigs.


Go Tribe!