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Lincoln celebrated his double and his run by striking out the side in the bottom of the 6th.� Since allowing the run in the 3rd, he had faced only the minimum over the next three innings — LF Boomer Whiting walked in the 5th, but was caught stealing second base.� Lincoln finished his evening with 6 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned), on 4 hits and a walk, and 6 strikeouts.� He threw 86 pitches (56 strikes).� The score was tied when he left the game, so he was not going to get involved in the decision.
It was the 7th inning that did the Tribe in.� Daniel Moskos came on to replace Lincoln.� He began by giving up back-to-back singles to Pete Orr and Luis Ordaz, then a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Maldonado moved both runners into scoring position.� Pinch-hitter Kevin Mensch lifted a sacrifice fly to score Orr and give the Chiefs the go-ahead run.
Derek Hankins relieved Moskos at that point, and things got worse.� Boomer Whiting singled, moving Ordaz to third base.� Whiting stole second base, then both Ordaz and Whiting scored on Justin Maxwell’s line drive single into center field.� Maxwell stole both second and third bases, then Hankins balked, and Maxwell scored.� Chase Lambin walked, then he stole second base — the fourth stolen base of the inning.� Jason Botts bounced to first base, where Jeff Clement missed it for a fielding error, and Lambin went to third.� A fly out ended the inning, but the Chiefs had taken a 4-run lead.
The Tribe kept working at it, though, and they got two of the runs back in the top of the 8th.� Jim Negrych led off with a walk, and ground outs by Doug Bernier and Alex Presley advanced him to third base.� Brandon Moss drove Negrych in with a double to deep center field.� Jeff Clement followed with a line drive into right field for a single, and that let Moss race around third and score.� The rally ended when Clement was thrown out trying to steal second base.
Corey Hamman pitched the bottom of the 8th for the Indians.� He gave up a walk to Luis Ordaz, who then stole second base, but a ground out ended the inning.� The Tribe went down in order in the top of the 9th, and Syracuse had the win.
The loss kept the Indians from sweeping this 4-game series with Syracuse, though they still won the series 3 games to 1.� The Indians will be travelling to Norfolk, Virginia, for a 4 game series with the Tides.
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Indians’ Hitting Gem of the Game:� Brad Lincoln’s double, which sparked the game-tying rally.� Lincoln has a .333 batting average for the season with the Indians, and he also hit .400 (6-for-15) in his 8 games with the Pirates.
Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game: Lincoln striking out the side in the 6th,� his last inning of work.� He was removed from the game for a pinch-hitter, but might have been able to go longer.
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NOTES:
OF Mitch Jones has been signed to a Pirates’ minor league contract, and he will be assigned to the Indians.� Jones is a 32-year-old Utah native, who was the Yankees’ 7th round pick in the 2000 draft.� He played in the Yankees’ organization through the 2006 season, and was an All-Star four different times (2004, 2005 mid- and post-season, and 2009).� While his batting average was never particularly high, Jones did hit a solid number of home runs and drove in a lot of runs.� In two season (2005-06) with AAA Columbus, he hit .252 with 57 doubles, 5 triples, 49 homers, and 157 RBI.� The problem was, he also struck out a combined 319 for those two seasons, and he walked 103 times.� Jones signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers for 2007, and he played well for the first two months of that season with AAA Las Vegas — .303 average, 19 homers, and 60 RBI (and 60 strikeouts). Then the Dodgers sold his rights to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and Jones finished the 2007 season and played part of the 2008 season in Japan.� He did not get into many games (38) in Japan, and did not hit well there, and so returned to AAA Las Vegas for the rest of the 2008 season.� Jones had a strong 2009 season for AAA Albuquerque (Dodgers).� In 108 games, he hit .297 with 26 doubles, 35 homers, and 103 RBI (and 102 strikeouts).� He was called up to the Dodgers in mid-June and appeared in 8 games for them, hitting .308 but without any homers or RBI.� He was signed to a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves for the 2010 season, and has played in 89 games for Gwinnett.� Jones has been hitting .250, with 23 doubles, 18 homers, and 45 RBI, plus 83 strikeouts.� His average was pretty steady in the .250 – .260 range for the first three months of the season, but dipped to .218 in July.� He continues to have too many strikeouts, though.
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Go Tribe!
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