Two critters on the field appreciated the weather tonight  (look above the umpire's head).







Indianapolis Indians  4,  Columbus Clippers  2
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The Indianapolis Indians won their third game in a row for the first time in the 2011 season as they beat the Clippers at Victory Field tonight.  Tonight's win was also the second in a row at home and the second in a row over the Clippers (the first win in the string was against the Durham Bulls in Durham).  It was also the third night in a row that the Indians allowed their losing opponent to rally and score in the last inning of the game, making things a little more excited than they ought to be.   

The weather was fit only for ducks (!), raining on and off the whole game, with the heaviest rain in the middle innings.  The game was not delayed or halted at any point, though.  

Garrett Olson (photo) made the start for the Indians.  He has been pitching in relief so far this season, and though he made a start in a "bullpen" game for the second game of a double header on April 25th, this was his first start since being officially moved to the starting rotation.  The Indians had stated that Olson would be on a pitch count of about 60, but he had thrown only 26 pitches (14 strikes) when he was lifted after 2 innings.  No word from the clubhouse as to why he left at that point.  Olson struck out the first two batters of the game, then ended the first inning with a fly out (14 pitches).  After a pop out to begin the top of the 2nd, Olson walked Columbus RF Jerad Head, but got 2B Jason Kipnis to bounce to first base, where 1B Matt Hague took one step to touch the first base bag for the out on Kipnis, then fired to second base, where SS Chase d'Arnaud tagged out Head for the reverse-force double play.  

D'Arnaud got the Indians going with a double down to the left field corner and off the wall to open the bottom of the 1st.  2B Pedro Ciriaco grounded through the hole and into left field for a single, moving d'Arnaud to third base.  CF Alex Presley grounded to second base, where Kipnis got the force out on Ciriaco and then threw to first for the double play.  D'Arnaud still scored from third on the play, but Presley did not get credit for an RBI.  The Indians didn't care about that, though -- they had a 1-0 lead.

Wins for everyone in the Pirates' minor league system on Saturday... and each of these winners scored 6 runs:

Altoona Curve  6,  Erie SeaWolves  5
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The Curve rallied with 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th, for a come-from-behind win, extending their winning streak to four games.  Starter Mike Colla went 5 innings and allowed one run on 5 hits and a walk, with 5 strikeouts.  Colla allowed only one hit over the first three innings.  The top of the 4th began with a single, a walk, and a single to load the bases.  After a strikeout, a single lined into left field drove in one run.  A strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.  

The Curve came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the frame.  CF Starling Marte had singled in the 1st inning, and the Curve had loaded the bases with two outs in the 2nd, on a walk by DH Kris Watts, and singles by 1B Miles Durham and RF Eric Fryer.  All four runners were left on base.  3B Jeremy Farrell started the 4th inning by being hit by a pitch.  C Tony Sanchez doubled into right field, scoring Fryer from first.  Watts' ground out moved Sanchez to third, then Durham lined a single into left field, bringing in Sanchez.  The Curve had a 2-1 lead.  

Brian Leach took over for Colla for the 6th inning, and retired the side in order.  Anthony Claggett came on for the 7th, which started well, with two outs.  Then a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single tied the game at 2-2.  Claggett remained in the game to begin the 8th inning, but he quickly got into trouble, allowing a pair of doubles and a single, for one run and one out.  Claggett was ejected after the single (no details, sorry), and Michael Dubee took over for him.  Dubee gave up an RBI single and an RBI double, to give Erie a 5-2 lead.

The Curve came charging back in the bottom of the inning.  With one out, LF Quincy Latimore walked, and SS Jordy Mercer brought them both in with a 2-run homer.  Farrell singled after the homer, and Sanchez tied the score when he drove in Farrell with a triple.  Brad Chalk came in to pinch-hit for Sanchez, and he scored on Watts' RBI single, to give the Curve the lead.  

Noah Krol pitched the final inning.  He gave up a pair of singles, but kept the SeaWolves from scoring to hold on to the win.  Dubee was credited with the win, and Krol earned his 8th Save of the season. 

Chase d'Arnaud makes the play at shortstop









Indianapolis Indians  9,  Columbus Clippers  5
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It took 8 games, but the Indians finally got their first win of the season against the Columbus Clippers tonight at Victory Field.  Brad Lincoln made a solid start, going 7 innings to earn his 3rd win.  It was the second game in a row that the Tribe scored 9 runs, but also the second in a row when they allowed the opposition to rally in the late innings.  The Indians posted 16 hits (two more than last night), with 1B Matt Hague and SS Chase d'Arnaud each contributing 3 hits and 3 RBI.  Each member of the starting line up had at least one hit.

Lincoln (photo) allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts in his 7 innings.  He had only one inning in which he retired the Clippers in order, but left 8 runners on base.  The righty got through the first inning with only one runner reaching base, when he hit Columbus' DH Lonnie Chisenhall with a pitch.  The two runs scored in the 2nd inning.  RF Travis Buck led off the inning with a single into right center field.  A fly out and a pop out followed, and it looked like Lincoln might get out of the inning unscathed.  Then former Indy Indian C Luke Carlin ran the count full and took a walk.  That brought up 3B Luis Valbuena, who ripped a grounder into right field so hard that it travelled all the way to the right field wall.  He drove in both Buck and Carlin, and by the time the ball got to the infield, Valbuena was on second base.  A spectacular catch by CF Alex Presley on a long fly ball off the bat of CF Ezequiel Carrera ended the inning.  

Lincoln went on to give up a single to Chisenhall in the 3rd inning, and also struck out 2 in the 3rd.  1B Chad Huffman singled and stole second base in the 5th.  That inning ended with a grounder toward second base.  2B Pedro Ciriaco charged in, made the scoop on the run, then threw across his body and a little behind him to first base, where Matt Hague had to pick the ball out of the dirt, but did it in time for the out.  Chisenhall doubled in the 7th inning, but was again left stranded.

After scoring in the 2nd inning, the biggest threat the Clippers made against Lincoln came in the 4th.  With one out, LF Jerad Head slipped a grounder past the diving d'Arnaud and into left field.  Carlin again worked a full count and took a walk.  Valbuena flied out to short left field for the second out.  Carrera grounded to third for what should have been the final out, but the ball skipped off 3B Josh Harrison's glove and over his shoulder.  D'Arnaud was in the perfect position to back up Harrison, and made the catch behind him, but by then Carrera had reached first base safely, loading the bases.  D'Arnaud's back-up kept a run from scoring, though, and Lincoln got another grounder to Harrison, this one fielded cleanly, to end the inning and leave the bases full.  It took Lincoln 97 pitches (62 strikes) to get through his 7 innings.

Friday the Thirteenth was lucky for the Curve and the Power....

Altoona Curve  6,  Erie SeaWolves  2
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The Curve posted a lucky 12 hits, as CF Starling Marte led the charge with 3 singles.  Marte, along with 2B Brock Holt got the scoring started with back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the 1st.  LF Eric Fryer's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, and SS Jordy Mercer's sacrifice bunt plated Holt.

Erie came right back with a pair of doubles off Curve starter Jared Hughes to tie the game at 1-1.  Hughes allowed only one walk over the next three innings.  In the top of the 6th, he gave up a 2-out single, followed by a ground-rule double.  Because it was ground-rule, the lead runner had to stop at third base, and Hughes was able to get out of the inning with a ground out, keeping the SeaWolves from scoring again.

The Curve missed out on scoring opportunities in two innings.  Holt doubled and Marte singled in the 3rd, but both were left in scoring position.  Both C Tony Sanchez and DH Kris Watts singled in the 4th, and they were also left on base.  A pair of doubles got the scoring re-started in the 5th.  Marte walked and Fryer singled with one out.  Marte advanced to third base on a fly out by Mercer, then scored on 3B Jeremy Farrell's double into left field.  Sanchez bounced a ground-rule double over the left field wall to bring in both Fryer and Farrell, giving the Curve a 4-1 lead.  

Marte started another rally in the 7th with a liner to second base for a single.  He stole second base, then scored on Fryer's grounder into right field.  That chased the Erie starter, but their reliever did not have any better success.  Fryer had gone to second base on the throw in from the outfield, and he advanced to third when the new reliever balked.  Farrell doubled in Fryer for a 6-1 lead.  

Hughes finished his evening with a scoreless 7th inning, having allowed one run on 6 hits and a walk, with 3 strikeouts.  Tim Alderson pitched a perfect 8th, then Noah Krol gave up one run in the top of the 9th on three singles, one of which ricocheted off Krol and into center field.