Alex Presley (7) had three hits and scored three times for the Indians tonight.  












Indianapolis Indians  10,  Buffalo Bison  1
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The Indianapolis Indians posted 16 hits and 10 runs as they stampeded the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field tonight.  Each position player in the Indians' lineup had at least one hit, and three players had 3 hits each:  CF Alex Presley, LF John Bowker, and C Dusty Brown.  Bowker contributed 4 RBI, while Brown and RF Andrew Lambo had 2 RBI each.  Justin Wilson earned the win with another very strong start, and rehabbing reliever Evan Meek pitched a scoreless 8th inning.  

The Indians got right down to business in the bottom of the 1st inning, when five of their first six batters singled.  2B Chase d'Arnaud started with a bouncer right back to the mound. The ball hit the leaping Buffalo starter Josh Stinson's glove and ricocheted 90 degrees to the left, landing over near the third base line.  That was all the time the speedy d'Arnaud needed to reach first base safely.  D'Arnaud promptly stole second base, and after SS Pedro Ciriaco popped out, d'Arnaud moved up to third base on Presley's (photo) first hit of the night, a single lined into right field.  A wild pitch by Stinson got away from his catcher Mike Nickeas and skittered over towards the visitor's dugout, far enough away that d'Arnaud was able to score from third, while Presley advanced to second.  Presley scored on Bowker's line drive into center field.  1B Matt Hague and 3B Josh Harrison both singled, loading the bases for Lambo.  Lambo grounded sharply to short, for what should have been a double play to end the inning.  Buffalo SS Luis Hernandez made the scoop and the toss to former Indy Indian 2B Luis Figueroa, forcing out Harrison at second, but Figueroa's relay to first pulled 1B Valentino Pascucci off the bag.  Lambo was safe, so Bowker scored from third.  Then, Hague, who had been on second base, rounded third and dashed for the plate, taking advantage of the Bison infielders having to regroup after the poor throw, and also taking advantage of the fact that they were not really paying attention to him.  Hague scored easily, giving Lambo 2 RBI on his fielder's choice.  Another grounder for a force out at second base ended the inning, with the Indians ahead, 4-0.  

A rainy Tuesday night in the Pirates' minor league organization.  The Indianapolis Indians played their entire game in the rain.  The Altoona Curve's game against the Akron Aeros (in Akron) was postponed due to rain.  It will be made up as part of a double-header on Thursday.  The West Virginia Power and the Lexington Legends were also rained out in Lexington.  They'll try for two tomorrow, beginning at 10 am.   The Marauders might have wished it was raining in Bradenton.


Clearwater Threshers  3,  Bradenton Marauders  2 
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LF Adalberto Santos hit his first homer of the season and contributed to the Marauders' 9th inning rally, but it wasn't enough to beat the Threshers.  Quinton Miller made the start for Bradenton.  He pitched 5 scoreless innings, though had to work around runners on base in each of them:  
-- two singles in the 1st
-- a hit batter, a single, and a walk in the 2nd
-- a single in the 3rd (erased by a double play)
-- a triple in the 4th (out at the plate on a fielder's choice)
-- a fielding error in the 5th.

But Miller's luck ran out in the 6th, when the inning began with a double and a single to put two runners into scoring position.  A suicide bunt scored the lead runner, and with two outs, a single loaded the bases.  Miller was relieved by Jason Erickson, who threw a wild pitch, allowing the runner on third to score.  Erickson gave up an unearned run in the 8th, which would prove to be the winning run.  With two outs, a fielding error by 2B Jarek Cunningham put a runner on second, and an RBI double brought that runner around to score.  Duke Welker pitched the top of the 9th, and retired the Threshers in order -- the only 1-2-3 inning for the Marauders' pitchers.

The Marauders got onto the scoreboard in the 2nd inning, with Santos' solo blast over the right field wall.  They put two runners on base in the 4th, when C Ramon Cabrera walked and 3B Elevys Gonzalez singled, but a double play ended that inning.   Santos reached base again in the 5th on a walk, then stole second base and moved to third on a passed ball, but that was as far as he got.  

The second Marauders' run came in a rally in the 9th.  With one out, CF Evan Chambers walked, and Santos singled, moving Chambers to second base.  DH Cole White grounded to third, and the Threshers' third baseman went for the fielders' choice, but didn't get it -- leaving the bases full of Marauders.  An RBI ground out by SS Benji Gonzalez let Chambers score from third.  Another ground out ended the inning and the game.  

Chase d'Arnaud slid in safely at third with a stolen base.
















Columbus Clippers  5,  Indianapolis Indians  2 
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The Indians and Clippers finally got some sunshine to play under, but the change in weather also brought a change in fortune.  The Indians' 4-game winning streak and the Clippers 4-game losing streak both came to an end, as the Clippers avoided being swept in this 4-game series at Victory Field.  


The Indians were held to just 4 hits, and half of them came off the bat of SS Chase d'Arnaud.  The Tribe batters were not able to take advantage of 3 walks either.  D'Arnaud opened the bottom of the 1st with his first hit, a cracked-bat bloop that fell in behind second base where none of the Clippers' fielders could get to it.  D'Arnaud stole second, coming in easily under a very high throw from former Indy Indian, C Luke Carlin (photo).  2B Brian Friday popped up to second base, then LF Alex Presley walked.  With RF John Bowker at the plate, d'Arnaud and Presley pulled off a double steal, to put both runners into scoring position.  Bowker hit a dribbly little "oops" ball to the left and in front of the mound, but with d'Arnaud off and running on the pitch, by the time Columbus starter Corey Kluber got to the ball, he had no play on d'Arnaud at the plate.  Bowker was out at first, but with an RBI, and the Indians had a 1-0 lead.  1B Matt Hague walked, and the Indians again had runners on the corners, but 3B Josh Harrison struck out to end the inning.  





Tribe starter Brian Burres (photo) retired the Clippers in order in the top of the 1st, but got into a little jam in the 2nd.  With one out, Burres gave up a single to DH Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis's grounder glanced off the end of d'Arnaud's glove as he stretched to make the play, and the ball ended up in center field.  Burres struck out LF Jerad Head next.  Kipnis stole second base, then 1B Wes Hodges worked a walk, to put runners on first and second base.  C Jason Jaramillo ended the inning for Burres with a throw down to first base.  Hodges was so far off the base, that the throw from Jaramillo beat him by a mile (ok, by 6 feet), and Hodges didn't even bother to slide.  

The Clippers tied the score in the top of the 3rd.  Burres got one out, then worked the count full on SS Luis Valbuena before walking him.  CF Ezequiel Carrera grounded slowly to first base, where Hague was able to make the scoop and step on the bag, but Valbuena was already sliding in to second base.  Valbuena came around to score from second base on 2B Cord Phelps' grounder down the first base line, just out of reach of Hague, who tried a dive to his left but could only tick the ball as it zipped past.