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Indy Indians vs S/W-B Yankees: Live Blogging

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Top of the Third:  
IMG_5598CF Gorkys Hernandez (photo) — lines a single up the middle.  Now he’s dancing off first base, drawing a few throws over from Brackman.
D’Arnaud bounces slowly to third, but Hernandez is already nearly at second base, so the only play is on d’Arnaud at first for one out.
Harrison also grounds to third, and is throw out at first — Hernandez stays put at second base.
Presley ups his hit total to 57 with a liner into the right-center field gap, and Hernandez zooms home from second base.  Tie score, 2-2.

Here in Indy, at Victory Field, the backdrop behind center field is downtown Indy, with the state capital building, hotels, and bank buildings.  At this stadium, which is in neither Scranton nor Wilkes-Barre, but Moosic, PA, has a background of green hills and the mountains.

Bowker strikes out to end the inning, leaving Presley on first.

Bottom of the 3rd:
Pena leads off with a single grounded up the middle on Wilson’s 1-0 pitch.
The Indians get their first double play, as Montero grounds to third for the around-the-horn 5-4-3 DP.  And a quick grounder to second by Maxwell for the third out.  

Top of the 4th:
Hague works a walk on a 3-1 pitch.
Marte lines out to left.
Brown lines right into the third base umpire’s knee.   It’s a foul ball, though.
A pop out for Brown.  The umpire (Gerard Ascani) appears to be ok.
Hague steals second easily — no throw, and Hague doesn’t even slide.  And now Hague goes to third on a wild pitch that goes through the legs and behind C Molino.
But Lambo strikes out, and Hague is stuck on third. 
Still a 2-2 tie.

Bottom of the 4th:
Pirates are down 1-0 in the 2nd inning in Pittsburgh.
No score in the 4th inning in Lakeland, FL, for the Bradenton Marauders and the Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Bradenton has 2 hits, both singles by SS Benji Gonzalez, and both times Gonzalez stole second. Lakeland has one hit, and that runner was erased with a double play.

Here, Wilson zipped through a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Top of the 5th:
It’s raining in Altoona, so the Curve and their Akron Aeros have not yet started playing.  The West Virginia Power and the Lakewood Blue Claws should be starting soon.

Hernandez was hit by a pitch to begin the 5th in S/W-B.
And with Hernandez taking off with the pitch, he avoids being caught in a double play.  D’Arnaud grounds to second, but the only out is at first.  
Oh, that was close — Hernandez was nearly picked off second on a throw from C Molino, but he got in just under the tag.  
Harrison grounds to short, and is out at second, while Hernandez takes a chance and advances to third base on the play. 
Presley comes to the plate having already smacked two RBI singles in this game…..but not this time.  A grounder to second for the third out.  

Bottom of the 5th:
Another quick inning for Wilson.  Two strikeouts in this one.

Top of the 6th:
Bowker grounds out to lead off the inning — first time in the game that the Indians’ lead runner has been retired.  
Hague walks.
Indians take the lead on Andy Marte’s long rising line drive just over the left-center field wall — a 2-run homer.  Indians up 4-2.
And Dusty Brown almost makes it back-to-back with a long long foul ball down the left field line.  
But Brown strikes out.
And a pop up by Lambo — at least not another strikeout, since he’s already done that twice in the game.

Indians have a 4-2 lead, and each team has 6 hits, no errors.

Bottom of the 6th:
Wilson worked the count full against Pena, but then threw a high pitch for ball four.
Montero lines into right field for a single, with Pena moving to third base.
A runs scores on Maxwell’s fielder’s choice.  A grounder to the left side of the infield, and d’Arnaud has to go into the hole to get it.  He gets the force out on Montero at second, but Maxwell is fast, and d’Arnaud was deep, so Maxwell is safe at first, and Pena scores from third.  A double play wouldn’t have kept Pena from scoring.

Maxwell steals second when the ball gets away from Brown, just a little behind the plate. 
Laird flies out to center, deep enough so that Maxwell can tag up and go to third.  Two outs now.
Russo lines down the right field line and into the corner.  He’s into third with a stand-up triple, and Maxwell scores, tying the score at 4-4.  Now we see where not turning that double play makes a difference.  The inning would have been over already.

A quick visit to the mound by pitching coach Tom Filer.
And a pop out to first in foul territory to end the inning.
Score tied, 4-4.

Top of the 7th:

IMG_5574And a new pitcher for the Yankees:  Right-hander Ryan Pope comes in.  (Brackman is also a righty.)
Andrew Brackman pitched 6 innings, with 4 runs, all earned, on 6 hits and 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts.  He also hit one batter.  He threw 95 pitches (54 strikes).

In West Virginia, the Power are trailing Lakewood 4-0 in the 3rd inning.  Zac Fuesser on the mound for the Power.  
In Florida, Robbie Grossman has also singled for the Marauders, but Lakeland has scored 4 runs on 7 hits.  They are in the 7th inning.  
The Curve and the Akron Aeros have just gotten started in Altoona, with Aaron Thompson retiring the Aeros in order in the top of the 1st.

Back in PA, Pope has started by striking out both Gorkys Hernandez and Chase d’Arnaud.
Harrison is hit by a pitch.
Presley (photo) comes through again in the clutch!  A liner down into the right field corner.  Harrison rounds third and the throw in from RF Brewer misses the cut-off man 2B Nunez — Harrison scores and Presley is into third base safely with a triple.  Indians ahead 5-4, and Presley is 3-for-4 for the afternoon with 3 RBI.

Bowker works a walk, but both he and Presley are left on the corners when Hague bounces out to short.  
Indians have a 5-4 lead. 

Bottom of the 7th:
Wilson still on the mound for the Tribe
But maybe not for long… Nunez grounds out, but then Molina smacks a liner into center field.  Gorkys Hernandez got there fast enough to cut it off and hold Molina to a single.  Then Krum lines into right field for a single.
That’s all for Wilson.  Manager Dean Treanor is out of the dugout and signalling to the bullpen.
Tony Watson is in for Wilson, with one out and the tying and go-ahead runs on base. 

Wilson lasted 6.1 innings and threw 87 pitches with 57 strikes.  He allowed 10 hits and so far 4 runs, though he’s responsible for both runners on base.  He walked one and struck out 5 batters. 

Well, that’s the way to start.  Three pitches from Watson, and he strikes out Pena.
Pitching coach Tom Filer visits with Watson and Brown on the mound.
Back to work…
And a fly out to right field to get out of the jam without a run scoring.  Watson rescues Wilson, and the Indians still have a 5-4 lead.  

Top of the 8th:
Eric Wordekemper relieves Pope for the Yankees.  Pope pitched one inning and allowed one run, but at this point it’
s the go-ahead run.  

A foul pop out for Marte, then Brown singles on a liner up the middle.
Lambo takes a long fly down the left field line… but it’s an out, caught by LF Maxwell.
And 2B Nunez robs Hernandez of a hit when he snags Hernandez’s line drive.  Brown left on base.

Bottom of the 8th:
Thunder again here in central Indiana.  
The Pirates are down 2-0 against the Tigers, in the middle of the 7th.  SS Ronny Cedeno has the only hit for the Pirates.

Watson back out on the mound in PA.
A long fly ball that hooks foul for Maxwell….and a strikeout.
A great play by d’Arnaud and Hague — Laird grounds deep into the hole, and d’Arnaud has to go way back, then throws off balance to first, where Hague scoops the ball out of the dirt just in time to get Laird out.
Russo drops a sinking liner into right field.  He steals second, as Brown’s throw to second skips past the base and into short right field.  The back-up gets the ball, so Russo can’t go any further.
No matter, Watson just strikes out Brewer to end the inning.

Top of the 9th:
Now there is more thunder, and also tornado warnings in Central Indiana.  Good thing the Indians are not here.

Wordekemper still pitching…
Chase d’Arnaud bounces right to short, but the SS Pena misplays the hop, and d’Arnaud is safe at first.  And there is suddenly some frantic activity in the Yankees’ bullpen.
A fly out for Harrison, and the Yankees are out on the mound to stall a bit….
Now Wordekemper is done and Randy Flores takes the mound for S/W-B, with one out and one on.

D’Arnaud steals second base on Flores’ first pitch.  It’s d’Arnaud’s 10th steal of the season.  
CF Krum makes a huge diving catch to rob Alex Presley of his fourth hit of the game, on a long drive to right center field.  Nice catch.  D’Arnaud needs to scramble back to second base.
And Bowker is also robbed of a hit, and maybe an RBI, when SS Pena makes a leaping catch of Bowker’s liner.

Bottom of the 9th:
Cesar Valdez is in for the third day in a row, in his first time for a save opportunity, as the Tribe clings to a one-run lead.
Tony Watson pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and allowed one hit, with 3 strikeouts.  He threw 28 pitches, with 18 strikes.
Matt Hague races over to the fence in front of the stands for the catch of Nunez’s foul fly — one out.
Line drive by Molina , but right at CF Hernandez — two outs.
Krum takes a 1-2 pitch into right field, where John Bowker makes the catch for the third out. 

Indians win, 5-4.  Here’s the box score.
Wilson earns his 5th win of the season, and Valdez earns his first Save.  Pope takes the loss.  

This win gives the Indians 9 wins in their last 11 games.  

The key play in the game came in the 2nd inning, when the Indians made an appeal at third base, and Luis Nunez, who had stumbled as he was rounding the bases, was called out.  His run did not count, and the Yankees’ 3-1 lead became a 2-1 lead.  That sparked the Indians, who rallied in the next inning to tie the game, and continued on for the win.

Indians’ Hitting Gem of the Game: Alex Presley’s 3-for-5 game, with a triple and two singles.  Each hit drove in a run.  In the 1st, Presley got the third consecutive hit to open the game, driving in Chase d’Arnaud from third base with the Indians’ first run.  Presley drove in Gorkys Hernandez with the tying run in the 3rd, then he drove in what would turn out to be the winning run in the 7th with a triple, scoring Josh Harrison.  

Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game:  Chase d’Arnaud made a very nice play on a grounder off the bat of Brandon Laird in the bottom of the 8th.  Going back into the hole, d’Arnaud made the scoop, then the off-balance throw to first, where Matt Hague pulled the ball out of the dirt for the out.

Go Tribe!

(photos by Nancy)

 

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