Monthly Archives: August, 2009

[Photo: �Hector Gimenez had 2 hits and 2 RBI tonight]

The Indianapolis Indians took advantage of Dontrelle Willis's wild night to beat the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio today. �The win gave them a 3-1 win of the series in Toledo and moved the Tribe into a tie with the Mud Hens for second place in the International League's West Division. �It also moved the Indians above the .500 mark (68-67) for the first time in the 2009 season. �The Indians and the Mud Hens are still 10 games behind the first place Louisville Bats, and are not even close to being in the running for the wild card spot in the IL playoffs. �The Bats have clinched the West Division championship, and will be going to the playoffs. �

Detroit Tigers' lefty Dontrelle Willis made a rehab start for the Mud Hens, and for awhile, it looked like he wasn't going to make it out of the first inning. �He walked the first two Indians' batters, RF Jose Tabata and 2B Pedro Lopez on 11 pitches. � CF Jeff Salazar singled into right field to load the bases. �Then Willis walked LF Brian Myrow (photo) and 1B Tagg Bozied on 9 pitches, forcing in two runs. �With the bases still loaded, 3B Neil Walker�drove a liner into the right field corner -- but foul at the last moment. �He ended up�grounding to third, and the Mud Hens started a double play, 5-2-3, as 3B Brent Dlugach threw to the plate to force out Jeff Salazar, and C Dane Sardinha fired on to first base in time to get the out on Walker. � Tribe C Hector Gimenez�singled up the middle, just out of reach of the diving Toledo 2B Will Rhymes, and that brought in Myrow and Bozied, to give the Indians 4 runs. �

Tribe starter Ty Taubenheim, who stepped up to make the start today in place of Daniel McCutchen, gave up one run to the Mud Hens in the 2nd inning. �With two outs, LF Jeff Frazier doubled into center field, and the next batter, CF Wilkin Ramirez brought Frazier home with a line drive single into center. �

Taubenheim (photo) took advantage of two double plays to get out of the 1st and 3rd innings. �In the 1st, after Will Rhymes led off with a single, DH Scott Sizemore lined to third base, where Neil Walker made the catch, then fired across the diamond to first base to double off Rhymes. �In the 3rd, C Dane Sardinha singled, but Will Rhymes grounded right to 2B Pedro Lopez, who tagged Sardinha as he ran by, then threw to first to get Rhymes. �Of course, the Indians fell victim to the double play twice in the first three innings also. �Besides the 5-2-3 play in the 1st inning, Tagg Bozied grounded to third in the 3rd inning, for a 5-4-3 double play that erased Brian Myrow after his single. �

Taubenheim got out of a jam on his own in the 4th inning. �Former Indy Indian (2007) Don Kelly led off with a double into left field, and Brent Dlugach walked. �But Taubenheim struck out 1B Mike Hessman, LF Jeff Frazier, and CF Wilkin Ramirez, to end the inning. �

Dontrelle Willis got into trouble again in the 5th inning. �His control appeared to be a little better, as the balls he threw were closer to the strike zone, but he still walked the first three batters at the top of the order, Jose Tabata, Pedro Lopez, and Jeff Salazar, on just 15 pitches. �Willis headed to the showers, relieved by Zach Simons. �Simons' second pitch to Brian Myrow got away from C Dane Sardinha for a passed ball, and Tabata scrambled home. Myrow was intentionally walked to load the bases again. �Tagg Bozied lifted a sinking line drive �to left field, which Jeff Frazier was able to catch at his shoe tops and get back into the infield in time to keep Lopez from tagging up and scoring. �That brought up Neil Walker (photo) with the bases loaded for the second time in the game. �Walker hit another fly to left field, and this time Lopez did tag up and try to score -- but the throw in from Frazier was quick and on-target, and Lopez was out by at least 6 feet. �

Hector Gimenez picked up his second hit of the game in the 6th inning, with a liner into center field to begin the inning. �SS Argenis Diaz sent Gimenez to third base with a grounder up the middle, and Jose Tabata's sacrifice fly brought Gimenez across the plate. �

Jeff Karstens came on to pitch the 6th inning, on his rehab assignment. �He was very quick, retiring three Mud Hens in order -- two fly outs, and a strikeout. �He also pitched the 7th inning, and allowed 2 singles. �He struck out 3 batters over the two innings. �

The Mud Hens brought in another rehabbing pitcher for the 7th inning. �Jeremy Bonderman gave up a single to Brian Myrow, who went 2-for-3 in the game, but got three outs, leaving Myrow on base. �

Juan Mateo came on to pitch the 8th for the Indians. �He gave up a lead-off single to Will Rhymes, then a walk to Scott Sizemore. �Don Kelly continued his hot hitting for the Mud Hens with an RBI single into center field, scoring Rhymes. �The inning ended when Mike Hessman lifted a little pop to the right of the mound. �Mateo was able to step over and catch the ball just before it hit the ground, then throw to first in plenty of time to double up Kelly, who had been running on contact. �

The Mud Hens scored one more run in the 9th. �Jean Machi (photo) took over for Mateo, and gave up a one-out triple to Wilkin Ramirez. �RF Brent Clevlen walked, and C Dane Sardinha brought in Ramirez with a sacrifice fly. �Machi ended the inning with a fly out to Brian Myrow in left field, and the Indians were ready to hop on the bus back to Indianapolis.

Indians' Hitting Gems of the Game: Two hits for Hector Gimenez. �His single in the first inning brought in the two runs that Dontrelle Willis did not force in. �Then he singled again in the 6th inning, sparking another rally.

Indians' Defensive Gem of the Game: �Five strong innings by Ty Taubenheim, throwing 75 pitches (48 strikes) on short notice. �He allowed only one run on 5 hits and struck out 6 batters. �After the game, Taubenheim said "I think I had really good fastball command... Five innings went by and I felt good and we won."

The GCL Bradenton Pirates, as usual, do not play on Sunday. �Tomorrow's game will the their last of the season.

Altoona played an early game in Erie:

A walk-off walk in the 12th inning gave the Sea Wolves the win this afternoon. �Reliever Ramon Aguero, in his second inning of work, walked the first batter in the bottom of the 12th. �A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second base, and Aguero struck out the next batter. �He intentionally walked the next Erie batter, but two un-intentional walks forced in the winning run. �Aguero took the loss, his first with the Curve. �

The Curve got started in the 2nd inning with back-to-back walks by DH Jason Delaney and 1B Miles Durham. �2B Shelby Ford singled to load the bases. �LF Jeff Corsaletti brought in Delaney and Durham with a drive down the left field line and into the corner. �C Miguel Perez brought in Ford with a grounder to short, and the Curve had a 3-0 lead.�

Base running problems hurt the Curve in the early innings. �SS Brian Friday walked to open the game, but was thrown out trying to steal second base. �RF Jonel Pacheco was also thrown out trying to steal after he singled in the 3rd inning. �In the 4th inning, Jeff Corsaletti singled and was out at second trying to stretch it into a double. �

After Corsaletti was thrown out in the 4th, Miguel Perez was hit by a pitch. �He moved to second base on a wild pitch, and came around to score when CF Gorkys Hernandez singled up the middle. �

Jared Hughes took over for Alderson in the 7th, and that's when the�Sea Wolves tied it up. Hughes allowed a lead-off single, and a sacrifice bunt and an infield ground out moved the runner to third base. �He scored on a wild pitch. �Erie took 6-4 lead in the 8th inning on back-to-back doubles, and added a go-ahead run on a fielding error by Brian Friday. �

The Curve came right back in the top of the 9th to tie the score again. �With one out, Jonel Pacheco collected his 3rd hit of the game with a single into right field. �Jason Delaney walked. �Two RBI singles, by Miles Durham and Shelby Ford scored Pacheco and Delaney. �When Jeff Corsaletti bounced to first base, Durham was out on the throw back to the plate, and the game went into extras. �Erie put one base runner on (a walk) in the bottom of the 9th and one on (single) in the 11th . The Curve put one runner on in the top of the 10th (Gorkys Hernandez's single), and went down in order in the 11th and the 12th. �That set up the bottom of the 12th, and the walk off walk. �

A 6-run first inning by the Dash chased Hillcats' starter Nate Adcock after only one inning, and the Hillcats could not catch up.

Adcock did not have it from the start. �With one out, he gave up two walks and a single, though CF Jose De Los Santos made an on-target throw to the plate, allwoing C Eric Fryer to tag out the lead runner as he tried to score. �Then with two outs, Adcock gave up a 3-run homer, three straight singles, and a 2-RBI double, to give the Dash their 6-0 lead. �

Moises Robles took over for Adcock to begin the 2nd inning (Adcock may have reached the 30-pitch limit in pitching to 10 batters in the 1st inning). �Robles pitched 3 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts. �Ronald Uviedo pitched the remaining 4 innings. �He gave up a solo homer in the 7th innings, and scattered three more singles and two walks. �

The Hillcats were quiet for the first 5 innings, with singles by 2B Chase d'Arnaud in the 1st, �DH Jamie Romak in the 4th, and C Eric Fryer in the 5th. �D'Arnaud reached second base on a fielding error to open the 6th inning, and he was able to tag up and move to third base when 3B Josh Harrison flied out. �SS Jordy Mercer brought d'Arnaud in with a sacrifice fly to put the Hillcats on the scoreboard. ��

Three doubles, by 1B Matt Hague, Eric Fryer, and Chase d'Arnaud, plus a single by Jose De Los Santos gave the Hillcats 3 runs in the top of the 7th inning. �They threatened again in the 8th, when Jamie Romak walked and Hague singled, and both moved up 90 feet on a passed ball. �But a strikeout ended the inning without a run scoring, and the Hillcats still could not catch up. �

The Power led the Crawdads 9-2 going into the 9th inning, and almost let the game slip away when the Crawdads scored 6 runs in the top of the 9th. �Starter Brett Lorin pitched 6 innings and got his second win, allowing one run on 6 hits and a walk, while striking out 8 batters. �That one run was a solo home run by Hickory's Eric Fry to lead off the 2nd inning. �Diego Moreno pitched 2 innings and also allowed a run, in the 7th inning on a double and an RBI single. �

Wilson Ortiz took the mound to begin the 9th inning, and he got into trouble with two singles and a hit batter to load the bases without an out. �A short fly ball gave him one out, but was too short for the runner on third base to tag up. �But a walk and another hit batter forced in two runs, and Eric Fry hit his second homer of the game. �This one was a grand slam, giving the Crawdads 6 runs in the inning. �Rafael De Los Santos relieved Ortiz and gave up another single, but got the final out of the game. �

The Spikes out-hit the Crosscutters 11-6, but the Crosscutters were able to make more efficient use of their hits, and they took advantage of 4 errors by the Spikes. �

Tyler Cox made the start for the Spikes. �In 6 innings of work, he allowed one run in each of four different innings, on 4 hits, no walks, with 6 strikeouts. �Three of the runs scored on the combination of an error and a double (1st, 3rd, and 5th innings). �The run in the 5th also was aided by a throwing error by C Craig Parry, when the base runner stole second. �The run in the 4th inning came without an error charged -- it was an inside-the-park�home run. �

The Spikes scored 2 runs in the 3rd inning, temporarily tying the score. �CF�Evan Chambers led off with a double, and 2B�Brock Holt followed with a triple, scoring Chambers. �Holt scored on 1B�Aaron Baker's RBI single. � Holt singled again to lead off the 7th inning. �He moved to second base on DH�Justin Byler's single, and to third on Baker's sacrifice bunt. �RF David Rubinstein's sacrifice fly scored Holt to bring the Spikes within a run of the Crosscutters. �

Victor Black relieved Cox in the 7th inning. �He retired the side in the 7th. �In the 8th, he gave up a double and a sacrifice bunt. �The runner tried to score from third on a grounder to third, but was tagged out at the plate by Craig Parry. �The Crosscutters did score one more time in the 9th. �With two outs, a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single scored the insurance run. �Cox suffered the loss, his 3rd of the season. �Brock Holt had 3 hits, a triple and two singles, in the game. �

The Pirates will have to make a spot on their 40-man roster for McCutchen, and they have not yet said how that will happen. �

McCutchen has a 13-6 record with the Indians, in 24 starts this season. �He has already pitched 142.2 innings, and while that is a lot, particularly by the Pirates' standards, it is less than the 171.1 innings he threw last season (123.1 in the Yankees' organization and 48 in the Pirates'). �McCutchen has allowed 145 hits and 55 earned runs (ERA 3.47) with only 29 walks and 110 strikeouts. �He has been particularly effective since the All-Star break, when his ERA dropped from 4.37 pre-break to 1.90. �While his strikeout rate has been about the same throughout the season, his walk rate dropped almost in half after the break -- from 2.27 walks per 9 innings before to 1.04 walks per 9 innings after the break. �

(LATER)

Brad Lincoln has been named to take McCutchen's spot on Team USA.

It was all Indians all night at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio tonight. �Two home runs by 3B Neil Walker (photo) and another by LF Brian Myrow led the Indians' offense, as all but one member of the line-up recorded at least one hit. �Walker had 3 hits, and Myrow and four other Indians had 2 hits each. �Walker collected 5 RBI and Myrow added 4 RBI to his total. �Brad Lincoln earned his 6th win with the Indians and his 4th win in his last 4 starts. �Lincoln, Corey Hamman, and Juan Mateo combined to shut out the Mud Hens.

Neil Walker started the fireworks in the 2nd inning. �With one out, 1B Tagg Bozied (photo below) walked. �Walker followed with a booming no-doubt-about-it homer over the right field wall, over the 375 mark, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead. �The Indians loaded the bases after the home run, with walks to DH Larry Broadway and C Erik Kratz, and a single into right field by RF Jose Tabata. �All three were left on base, though, when 2B Pedro Lopez flied out.

The Indians began a steady barrage of runs in the 4th inning, as they scored 3 runs in each of the next 3 innings. �The 4th inning began with four consecutive hits: �singles into right field by both Neil Walker and Larry Broadway, a double by Erik Kratz, and a single by SS Argenis Diaz. �Kratz's line drive into left field plated Walker, and Diaz's grounder up the middle brought in both Broadway and Kratz. �Diaz tried to make it a double on the throw in from the outfield, but he was out at second base. �

Brian Myrow walked and Tagg Bozied hit his second single in the 5th inning. �Neil Walker blasted his second home run of the game, again over the right field wall and again no doubt. �That gave Walker 5 RBI and gave the Indians an 8-0 lead. �

In the 6th inning, it was Brian Myrow's turn to send a ball sailing over the fence. �Argenis Diaz led off with a single up the middle. �He was out at second base when Jose Tabata grounded into a force out, leaving Tabata on first. �Pedro Lopez singled into right field. �Myrow brought both of them in with his 15th home run of the season, which flew over the right field wall in about the same spot os Walker's second blast. �Indians 11, Mud Hens 0.

Tribe starter Brad Lincoln�(photo)�was enjoying all the run support he was getting, but his outstanding performance was a bit lost amid the offensive explosions. �Lincoln pitched 6 scoreless innings, and allowed only 3 hits. �Former Indy Indian (2007) Don Kelly singled in the 1st inning. �Lincoln retired the next 10 batters he faced. �In the 5th inning RF Jeff Frazier led off with a single, but was promptly erased in a double play, when DH Wilkin Ramirez drove a liner right at Pedro Lopez, who then doubled Ramirez off first. �3B Brent Dlugach doubled, but a strikeout ended the inning. �Lincoln did not walk any batters, and he struck out 6 Mud Hens. �He threw 83 pitches, of which 48 were strikes. �

The Indians added one more run for good measure in the 8th inning. �Jose Tabata lined a single into left field. �CF Jeff Salazar, the only member of the line-up who did not have a hit, still reached base with a walk. �Brian Myrow followed with a single up the middle, bringing in Tabata from second base. �Tagg Bozied walked for the second time in the game, to load the bases. �This time the Mud Hens managed to hold off Neil Walker, who grounded into a force out to end the inning and leave the runners stranded. �Indians 12, Mud Hens 0.

By the top of the 9th inning, the Mud Hens decided that things were just too far out of hand. �Catcher Dane Sardinha made his professional pitching debut, taking the mound for the Mud Hens. �The first batter he faced, Larry Broadway, took Sardinha's third pitch into center field for a double. �A wild pitch by Sardinha let Broadway advance to third base, but Sardinha got three outs, a ground out and two fly outs, to get out of the inning, and give the Mud Hens' bullpen a bit of rest. �

Corey Hamman came on in relief of Lincoln in the 7th inning. �He pitched 2 hitless innings, allowing the only walk by the Indians' pitchers. �He also had a batter reach base on a throwing error by Neil Walker. �Juan Mateo pitched a perfect 9th inning, striking out Hens' 1B Mike Hessman to end the game. �

�

The win brings the Indians back to the .500 mark (67-67) for the third time this season. �In each of the other two times, they have remained at .500 only until the next game, and have not been able to take the next step to get above the mark. �The Mud Hens' loss means that the Louisville Bats have clinched the International League West Division Championship. �