Butler University's Blue II chases down the first pitch.











Indianapolis Indians 2,  Syracuse Chiefs  2   (suspended)
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A storm moving through Central Indiana tonight forced the suspension of the Indians/Chiefs game at Victory Field, with the score tied at 2-2 in the 7th inning.  The game began under sunny skies with a game-time temperature of 92 degrees (though my car thermometer was reading 100 degrees at about 4 pm).  But in the 4th inning, the wind suddenly changed from blowing out to right-center field to blowing straight in from left field (from the north).  Dark clouds hovered over downtown Indianapolis, and lightning was visible in the distance to the north. The skies got darker and darker, and the wind blew more and more, until the rain began in the 6th inning.  It was just a light rain at first, but by the top of the 7th, large drops were falling and coming down heavily, and the game was suspended, to be finished on Sunday afternoon.

Sean Gallagher (photo, making a throw to first base) made the start for the Indians, and had a shaky 1st inning.  Chiefs' LF Gregor Blanco led off with a soft liner into left field for a single, and he advanced to second base when Gallagher balked on a throw to first base.  CF Corey Brown worked the count full then walked.  1B Chris Marrero lined another single into left field, allowing Blanco to score from second base, giving Syracuse a 1-0 lead.  Gallagher retired the next three batters in order, with two strikeouts, leaving two Syracuse runners on base.  

Gallagher went on to retire the side in the 2nd inning.  He gave up a one-out single through the right side of the infield to Brown in the 3rd.  A grounder by Marrero looked like it could be an inning-ending double play, and 2B Brian Friday flipped to SS Chase d'Arnaud for the force out on Brown, but d'Arnaud's throw on to first bounced in the dirt and got past 1B Matt Hague.  C Eric Fryer was right where he was supposed to be, backing up first base, so the ball did not get far enough away for Marrero to advance past first base.  Gallagher struck out 2B Tug Hulett for the second time to end the inning.  

Saturday evening's action with the Pirates' lower minor league affiliates.

Don't forget to vote for the All-Star Teams:
Pirates/MLB:  vote here
Indianapolis Indians/International League:  vote here
Altoona Curve/Eastern League:  vote here



Portland Sea Dogs  4,  Altoona Curve  0
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The Curve were held to just 6 base runners -- 3 singles and 3 walks, and could not push any of them around to score.  SS Jordy Mercer was the only Curve to reach base in the first 5 innings.  He walked to lead off the 2nd inning, but was out at second base when 1B Matt Curry flied out.  

Starter Mike Colla retired Portland in order in the first two innings, but gave up a solo home run in the 3rd.  He gave up another solo blast in the 4th, and struck out the other three batters in that inning.  In the 5th, a lead-off double and an RBI single gave the Sea Dogs their third run in the 5th.  Portland's third homer of the game made it 4-0 in the 6th.  Colla left after 6 innings, having allowed 7 hits (3 homers and 4 other hits), one walk, and 6 strikeouts.  He threw 94 pitches, with 58 strikes.  

The Curve threatened in the 6th inning, with a walk by DH Kris Watts and singles by RF Brad Chalk and 2B Brock Holt loading the bases with one out.  But CF Starling Marte bounced into a double play to end the inning.  Mercer singled in the 7th, and he was also erased with a double play.  Chalk walked in the 9th, but was left on base.  

Matt McSwain pitched 2 scoreless innings for the Curve in relief of Colla.  He gave up two singles, but one was eliminated with a double play, and the other was left stranded.  Noah Krol pitched the top of the 9th, allowing a walk and a single.   

Ready to cheer for the Tribe








Indianapolis Indians  3,  Syracuse Chiefs  1
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Indians starter Brad Lincoln (photo) earned his 5th win tonight, beating the Chiefs with both his pitching and his bat at Victory Field tonight.  He allowed just one run in his 7 innings of work on 6 hits, with 2 strikeouts.

The game began with both Lincoln and Syracuse starter JD Martin zipping right along on the mound.  Lincoln retired the first 9 batters he faced.  Seven of those outs were ground balls, and only one ball got out of the infield.  Martin retired the first 8 batters he faced -- and before we knew it, the game was already in the bottom of the 3rd.

The Indians' first hit of the game came in the bottom of the 3rd with two outs -- a triple by Lincoln.  The ball shot down the right field line and bounced around in the bullpen, and by the time the Chiefs' RF Jesus Valdez got to the ball, Lincoln was cruising into third base.  He didn't slide, despite manager Dean Treanor's motioning down, down.  


2B Shelby Ford followed Lincoln's triple with a long blast over the right field wall at the 362' sign, landing on the sidewalk behind the grass berm, for a 2-run home run.  It was Ford's second homer in four games with the Tribe this season.

3B Andy Marte (photo, being congratulated by manager Dean Treanor)  made it a 3-0 lead in the next inning, when he also homered.  Marte's bomb out-blasted Ford's -- this one went past the left field berm, past the side walk, and over the grass behind the sidewalk, landing just inside the fence at the edge of Maryland Street.   

Lincoln came to the plate again in the bottom of the 5th, and again with two outs.  He hit his second extra-base hit of the game, a double off the left field wall.  Lincoln sailed into second base easily as the Syracuse outfielders scrambled after the ball.  That time, though, he was left stranded.  

Lincoln returned to the mound after racing around the bases in the bottom of the 3rd.  He gave up a single to 2B Matt Antonelli to lead off the 4th inning.  The next batter, Valdez lined softly right to 1B Matt Hague, who was standing just a few feet from first base to hold Antonelli on.  With the count full on Valdez, Antonelli took off for second base with the pitch.  It was not hard for Hague to turn and tag Valdez on the chest as he tried to return to the bag, for an unassisted double play.  A fly out ended that inning.  

West Virginia Power  5,  Lexington Legends  4
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Jameson Taillon surrendered 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings, but he still pulled out his second win of the season.  The 4 runs all came in the bottom of the 6th inning.  The Legends started the inning with back-to-back doubles, driving in one run.  A single and a fielding error by LF Rogelios Noris added a second run, then a 2-run homer made the score 4-0.  

The Power tied the score in the top of the 4th.  RF Dan Grovatt started the rally with a walk, and moved to second base on a wild pitch.  DH Kawika Emsley-Pai and C Elias Diaz also walked, loading the bases.  With two outs, 2B Andy Vazquez lined a single into center field, bringing in Grovatt and Emsley-Pai, and leaving runners on the corners.  Another walk, to 3B Eric Avila, loaded the bases again.  Then SS Drew Maggi lined another 2-RBI single into right field, plating Diaz and Vasquez to tie the game at 4-4.  

Grovatt began another rally in the 5th, with a single.  A passed ball advanced Grovatt to second base, and he moved up to third base on 1B Justin Howard's ground out.  Emsley-Pai drove Grovatt in with a single up the middle, and Grovatt came in with the go-ahead run.  

Taillon worked around at least one runner on base in 4 of his 5 innings.  He had a batter reach on a throwing error by Avila in the 1st, and he also gave up a single in the bottom of the 1st.  Taillon allowed a single and a double in the 3rd, but a double play helped him out of that jam.  He also gave up a lead-off single in the 5th, but retired the next three batters on three ground outs.  

Casey Sadler relieved Taillon to begin the 6th.  Sadler pitched 3 scoreless innings and allowed just one single in the 6th, and a walk in the 8th.  He struck out 3 Legends' batters.  Jason Townsend earned his 5th Save of the season with a scoreless 9th, allowing a single.  

After taking the lead in the 5th, the Power put at least one runner on base in every inning for the rest of the game.  Maggi tripled in the 6th, and Howard singled in the 7th.  Noris reached base on a fielding error in the 8th.  Both Grovatt and Howard walked in the 9th inning.  None of them could push around to score.