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Indians Strike (Out) Bats

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Heroes at Victory Field




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Indianapolis Indians� 7,� Louisville Bats� 5 ...��� (box)

IMG_4571The Indianapolis Indians snapped a 4-game losing streak and got to play the role of spoiler for at least one night as they defeated the Louisville Bats at Victory Field tonight.� The Indians' pitchers combined for a total of 15 strikeouts -- more than half of the outs they recorded were strikeouts.

Dana Eveland (photo) made the start for the Indians and pitched 4 innings.� He struck out a season-high 9 batters, meaning that he recorded only 3 outs that were not strikeouts -- a fly out, a pop out, and a grounder force out at second base.� Eveland also gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.

The game began ominously for Eveland and the Tribe.� The first batter of the game, CF Dave Sappelt, lined a single over 2B Doug Bernier's leap and into right-center field.� The second batter, SS Zach Cozart, lined a double into right-center field.� The third batter, 1B Danny Dorn, smacked a home run over the right-center field wall, giving the Bats an instant 3-0 lead.

Eveland got his feet back under him for the rest of the 1st inning.� He struck out LF Todd Frazier and got C Devin Mesoraco to pop out to second base.� He did give up another hit, to LF Luis Terrero, butt hen struck out 2B Kris Negron to end the inning.

IMG_4573In the bottom of the inning, the Indians batters jumped right on Louisville starter Chad Reineke too.� LF Kevin Melillo with a liner over the head of the Bats' second baseman and into right-center field.� 3B Akinori Iwamura worked a walk, then CF Alex Presley flied out to right field. Melillo was able to tag up and advance to third base on the fly out, which put him in position for RF Brandon Moss. Moss collected his 90th RBI of the season with a grounder through the right side of the infield, and Melillo scored easily from third base.� That was all the Tribe could get that inning, though.� Jeff Clement, who was making a rehab start at first base (photo), flied out and C Erik Kratz struck out to end the inning.

Eveland struggled again in the 2nd inning.� The first batter, 3B Eric Eymann slipped a single through the hole at short for a single.� Bats' pitcher Chad Reineke dropped down a bunt, but Eveland pounced on it, whirled and fired to second base, where he was in time to force out Eymann and leave Reineke on first.� Back to the top of the Bats' order, Eveland struck out Dave Sappelt, then walked Zach Cozart.� Danny Dorn drove in another run (Reineke) with a single down the right field line.� Eveland struck out Todd Frazier again, but the Bats had increased their lead to 4-1.

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Four Tribe Pitchers Combine For Shutout

Indianapolis Indians� 8,� Columbus Clippers� 0 ..��� (box)

IMG_4157Four Indianapolis Indians pitchers combined to shut out the Columbus Clippers at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.� They held the Clippers to a total of 4 hits and 2 walks.� CF Alex Presley supported them with 3 hits, and both 1B Doug Bernier (photo) and RF Brandon Moss contributed 3 RBI.

The Indians got things started in the top of the 1st with a one-out single by 3B Akinori Iwamura, and after the second out, RF Brandon Moss launched his 21st home run of the season, bringing in Iwamura for a 2-0 lead.� They added 2 more runs in the 2nd.� With one out, SS Pedro Ciriaco smacked a grounder towards third base.� The ball glanced off the glove of Columbus 3B Argenis Reyes and past him down the left field line, and Ciriaco cruised into second base with a double.� After a strikeout by C Jason Jaramillo, 2B Brian Friday lifted another double into center field, and Ciriaco came around to score from second base.� Doug Bernier followed with a line drive single into left field, and Friday also scored.� Bernier stole second base, but was left there when a ground out ended the inning.� The Indians were up, 4-0.

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IMG_3940Charlie Morton was originally listed as the starting pitcher tonight, but he was recalled by the Pirates so that he can made the start for them tomorrow.� Dana Eveland (photo) made the spot start in Morton's place.� Eveland had to work around one runner on base in each of the first three innings.� 2B Drew Sutton lined a single into left field in the bottom of the 1st, but Eveland got 1B Wes Hodges to bounce into an around the horn double play, Iwamura to Friday to Bernier.� DH Jared Goedert walked with two outs in the 2nd, but Eveland struck out former Indy Indian Luke Carlin to end the inning.� Clippers' SS Josh Rodriguez reached base on a fielding error by Brian Friday to begin the 3rd inning, but Eveland induced three grounders, again keeping the Clippers scoreless.

Two Homers Too Much For Tribe

Louisville Bats� 5,� Indianapolis Indians� 1 ..�� (box)

IMG_4097Two home runs by Bats' RF Wladimir Balentien plus an RBI single drove in a total of 4 runs, as the Bats made quick work of the Indians at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky tonight.� 3B Mitch Jones scored the Indians' only run of the game, and starter Mike Crotta (photo) suffered the loss.

The Bats' first two runs of the game were sparked by two triples.� Mike Crotta had worked around a base runner in each of the first two innings -- CF Dave Sappelt reached on a fielding error in the 1st but was erased with a double play, and LF Danny Dorn walked in the 2nd but was left on base.� With two outs in teh 3rd inning, Sappelt drove a low liner into the right center field alley.� CF Alex Presley chased after the ball and made a diving attempt to catch it, but the ball went off his glove, and he had to hop up and track it down before he could throw the ball back to the infield.� By then, Sappelt had cruised into third base with a triple.� Crotta's first pitch to 2B Wilkin Castillo hit the dirt and bounced away from C Erik Kratz to the left of the home plate area.� Kratz scrambled over to pick up the ball and throw to Crotta covering the plate, but Kratz was throwing from a sprawled position on the ground, and his throw was high and wide, and the run scored.

The 4th inning began with the second triple, this one by 1B Yonder Alonso.� The ball bounced just inside the first base line but past the diving 1B John Bowker, down past the rolled up tarp and into the right field corner.� RF Brandon Moss hoped the ball would carom off the wall and toward him as he raced over in right field, but there was no carom and Moss ahd to chase it down.� Alonso was easily in with a triple.� Wladimir Balantien followed with a single through the hole and past SS Doug Bernier and into left field, plating Alonso, to give the Bats a 2-0 lead.

Indians Fall To Bats In A Hit-O-Rama

Louisville Bats� 10,� Indianapolis Indians� 6 (box)

IMG_4414Twenty-nine combined hits kept things hopping at Victory Field tonight.� But the Bats had 18 of those hits, for 10 runs, including a 5-run 7th inning.� Louisville's CF Dave Sappelt, in only his 9th AAA game, went 5-for-6, missing the cycle by only a home run -- he had a triple, two doubles, and two singles, and made the most spectacular catch of the game in center field.

Brian Burres (photo) kept the Bats scoreless in the first three innings, despite having to work around runners on base in each of those innings.� Sappelt opened the game with a single lined over the head of Tribe SS Pedro Ciriaco, and the next batter, SS Zack Cozart followed with a line drive into center field.� But Burres took a deep breath, and got 1B Yonder Alonso to bounce right to 2B Brian Friday, who started a 4-6-3 (Friday to Ciriaco to 1B Mitch Jones) double play.� Burres walked LF Todd Frazier, but then got 3B Juan Francisco to ground another ball right to Friday to end the inning.

The second inning also began with a single, this one a grounder up the middle by RF Wladimir Balentien.� Burres got out of that with two grounders to 3B Doug Bernier and a strikeout by opposing pitcher Matt Maloney.� The Bats began the 3rd inning by getting their lead-off batter on for the third straight inning.� Sappelt doubled over the reach of Mitch Jones at first and down into the right field corner.� Cozart tried to sacrifice bunt Sappelt over to third, but his bunt attempt went up instead of down, and Burres scrambled over to catch the pop before it could fall in.� Burres whirled to throw on to third, but Sappelt had wisely remained at second base.� He wasn't wise enough to stick close to the base, though.� Before Burres threw his first pitch to Alonso, he turned and picked Sappelt off second base.� Alonso grounded to Brian Friday at second to end the inning (photos below).

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Stolen Bases Hurt Indians

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Pedro Ciriaco, airborne over Brian Bixler

Syracuse Chiefs� 11,� Indianapolis Indians� 4 (box)

IMG_4386Six stolen bases by the Chiefs, wild pitches, and double plays that weren't turned made the difference as Syracuse defeated the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Starter Joe Martinez (photo) made his second start for the Indians, giving up 8 of the Chiefs' 17 hits.� The Indians were held to 6 hits, including two home runs, by LF Kevin Melillo and 1B John Bowker.

Lead-off batter Kevin Melillo got the Indians off on the right foot, by taking the second pitch thrown by Syracuse starter Erik Arnesen down the right field line and over the fence just inside the foul pole for a solo home run.� The Indians went on to score one run in four of the first five innings.

RF Brandon Moss nearly had a double moments after Melillo's homer.� Moss lifted a long fly to the deep part of left-center field, with both Syracuse LF Leonard Davis and CF Michael Martinez chasing after it.� Martinez called off Davis and had slowed, reaching up for the ball -- when the ball bounced into and out of his glove and dropped to the ground for a two-base error.� John Bowker worked a walk, putting two Tribe runners on base, but a strikeout ended the inning.

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C Jason Jaramillo led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with a single grounded off Arnesen's glove and up the middle, and 2B Brian Friday lined a single into left field, again giving the Indians two base runners.� Joe Martinez did what every good pitcher should be able to do in this situation:� he dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt (photo).� But the Chiefs put on the wheel play, with 3B Seth Bynum charging in to field the bunt.� Bynum fired the ball to former Indy Indian SS Brian Bixler, who was covering third base, forcing out the lead runner Jaramillo.� Friday was safe at second base, and Martinez safe at first.� Kevin Melillo grounded to second, which also resulted in a force out.� Martinez was out at second base, but Bixler took a tick too long getting the ball out of his glove after he fielded it, and there was no time for 2B Danny Espinosa to get Melillo out at first.� Friday advanced to third on the play, and when Arnesen hit 3B Mitch Jones with a pitch, the Indians had the bases loaded with two outs and Alex Presley at the plate.� The first pitch from Arnesen to Presley hit the dirt about 3 feet in front of home plate and bounced all the way to the backstop, and Friday was easily able to score from third base, to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

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Wild Pitch Gives Away The Win In The 11th

Norfolk Tides� 2,� Indianapolis Indians� 1 (box)

IMG_4292A run scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 11th inning made the difference tonight at Victory Field, as the Norfolk Tides slipped by the Indians by a score of 2-1.� The win gives the Norfolk a 3-5 win of the 8-game� season series.

Pitchers were the big story of the game.� Tides' starter Rick VandenHurk pitched 8 innings and allowed only one run on 3 hits and a walk, and all three of those hits came in the 3rd inning.� VandenHurk retired the first 7 Tribe batters of the game.� Then with one out in the 3rd, SS Pedro Ciriaco (photo) sliced a single off the tip of his counterpart's glove and into left field for a single.� 2B Brian Friday followed with another single.� Ciriaco took off for second base with the pitch, and when SS Robert Andino moved to cover second base, Friday slipped a grounder right through the spot where Andino had been.� Ciriaco's aggressive running put him on third base.� LF Kevin Melillo came through with the third consecutive single, a short fly into left field.� Melillo's counterpart, Nolan Reimold made the running dive, but the ball fell in just a quarter of a step in front of him, allowing Ciriaco to score from third base.

The Indians ran themselves out of further run scoring chances in that inning.� 3B Akinori Iwamura flied out to short left field for the second out.� Brian Friday, who had advanced to third on Melillo's hit, tried to take the Tides by surprise with a tag-up even though the fly out was short.� Unfortunately, the Tides were not as surprised as Friday had hoped they'd be.� The throw in from Reimold, to 3B Scott Moore, and on to C Adam Donachie, reached the plate when Friday was still three steps away, and he was easily tagged out.

That was all the scoring for the Indians.� VandenHurk, a Dutch native, retired the Indians in order in the 4th and 5th innings.� He walked Brian Friday to begin the 6th, then retired the next 9 Indians in order.

Tides Wash Over Indians

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a lot of jawing going on

Norfolk Tides� 9,� Indianapolis Indians� 1 (box)

IMG_4188Norfolk Tides' starter Chris Tillman pitched into the 7th inning and struck out 9 Tribe batters as the Tides easily washed over the Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Indians' starter Jeremy Powell (photo) had a rough outing, and did not get through the 4th inning, as he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits.

Powell allowed at least one base runner on in each of his 4 innings, though he did have a bit of luck in the top of the 1st.� CF Matt Angle opened the game with a double into the right-center field gap.� He moved to third base when one of Powell's pitches to SS Robert Andino came up and in and high, and got past C Jason Jaramillo for a wild pitch.� Andino struck out, then Powell struck out former Indy Indian RF Jeff Salazar.� On strike three to the left-handed hitting Salazar, Jaramillo hopped up and fired down to third base, surprising Angle, who was a little too far off the bag.� 3B Akinori Iwamura was easily able to tag out Angle to end the inning.

Unfortunately, there was not much more luck going for Powell.� In the 2nd inning, with one out, DH Michael Aubrey smacked a sharp grounder to the right of 2B Brian Friday. Friday was able to make the diving stop, but had no time to throw Aubrey out at first.� Aubrey went to second base on 1B Brandon Snyder's ground out.� Then 3B Scott Moore rocketed a rising line drive out of the park just inside the right field foul pole for a 2-run homer.

Three straight hits off Powell gave the Tides another run in the 3rd.� With one out, Andino tripled into the left-center field alley, with the ball rolling to the wall in the deepest part of Victory Field.� Salazar brought Andino in with a bloop single into short center field.� Salazar was thrown out trying to steal second base -- the first time this season that Salazar has been caught stealing, in 17 attempts.� LF Nolan Reimold grounded a single up the middle, just out of reach of SS Pedro Ciriaco, but he was left stranded when Powell struck out Aubrey.

IMG_4210Things got worse in the 4th.� Brandon Snyder began the inning with a line drive down the right field line and into the corner.� Powell walked Moore, and C Adam Donachie, just arrived from AA Bowie, dropped down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third bases.� 2B Paco Figueroa grounded toward short, where the ball scooted past the diving Ciriaco, who might have been distracted by Moore, who was running in front of him and between Ciriaco and the oncoming ground ball.� It was ruled a hit, and Snyder came in to score.� Angle drove a high bouncer just barely inside the chalk line and into the right field corner for a triple, plating both Moore and Figueroa, and the Tides had a 6-0 lead.� That brought up Andino.� When Powell's first pitch came in tight and hit Andino's jersey, Andino took exception (remember that high and tight wild pitch in the first inning? ).� Andino stood at the plate and yelled out at Powell.� He was restrained by the home plate umpire and Jaramillo, and by his own teammates who quickly came out of the dugout.� Powell returned the jawing, and took several steps toward the plate, but was also blocked by the umpires and his teammates.� Manager Frank Kremblas kept the rest of the Indians' bench from emptying, and after a bit more yelling and milling around, order was restored (photo here and at the top).� No one was ejected, but Kremblas decided that it was a good time to end Powell's night.

Moss Leads The Offense As Indians Win The Series

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Looking heavenward for help?

Indianapolis Indians �8, �Charlotte Knights �5 (box)

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The Indians posted 14 hits on their way to 8 runs tonight at Victory Field. �The win gives the Indians a win of this 4-game series (3 games to 1) and the season series (6 games to 2) over the Charlotte Knights. �RF�Brandon Moss led the offense by going 3-for-3 at the plate, with a double, an RBI, and a walk. �3B�Akinori Iwamura, CF�Alex Presley, 1B�Jonathan Van Every, and 2B�Brian Friday each had 2 hits, and Presley smacked his 4th home run in his 30 games with the Indians.

The game began with Tribe starter Brian Burres (photo) getting into and out of a jam. �Back-to-back singles by Knights' CF Alejandro De Aza and 2B Luis Rodriguez, and a walk to RF Stefan Gartrell loaded the bases before Burres could record an out. �DH Josh Kroeger flied out to left field, but it was too short for De Aza to tag up and try to score from third base. �Then Burres got C Tyler Flowers to ground to Aki Iwamura, who started the around-the-horn double play, Iwamura to Brian Friday to Jonathan Van Every (5-4-3). �Big sigh of relief from the Indians' dugout and the fans in the stands.

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(Photo: �Brian Friday at second base)

Burres retired the Knights in order in the next two innings. �Things got messy again in the top of the 4th. �Stefan Gartrell and Josh Kroeger walked on 9 pitches (one strike for Kroeger). �Burres again got Tyler Flowers to bounce into a double play, this time grounding to Argenis Diaz at shortstop, who started the 6-4-3 play (Diaz to Friday to Van Every). �That erased Kroeger, but put Gartrell on third base. �Gartrell scored when LF Buck Coats grounded up the middle for a single. �3B Brent Morel also reached base on a single to short, but Burres got a ground out to end the inning.

The Indians' bats had been held to just a walk to Brandon Moss in the 2nd inning and a line drive single by C Luke Carlin in the 3rd inning. �Both Moss and Carlin tried to steal second base, but only Carlin was successful. �The Tribe batters got going in the 4th inning, with three straight hits. �Aki Iwamura and Alex Presley led off with back-to back singles, both liners into right field. �Moss picked up his first hit of the game with a rocket into right field for a double, scoring Iwamura and moving Presley to third base. �DH Jim Negrych grounded out to second, plating Presley and advancing Moss to third. �Jonathan Van Every also singled, and that brought in Moss from third, to give the Indians a 3-1 lead.

It was a brief lead. �With two outs in the top of the 4th, Luis Rodriguez hit his 5th home run in 5 days, and Stefan Gartrell followed with his 20th homer of the season -- back-to-back homers, and the score was tied 3-3.

Another Big 6th Inning Powers Indians Over Knights

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Mound conference

Indianapolis Indians� 8,� Charlotte Knights� 5 (box)

IMG_4118For the second night in a row, the Indians had an exciting 6th inning that gave them the lead and the eventual win over the Charlotte Knights.� Tonight, five consective hits in the 6th, with RBI from LF Kevin Melillo, 2B Akinori Iwamura, and 1B Jeff Clement, powered the Indians to the win at Victory Field.

Jeremy Powell made the start for the Indians tonight -- his first start in almost three weeks.� (He's had three relief appearances in that interval.)� Powell breezed through the first two innings, allowing only a walk to SS Luis Rodriguez in the 1st.� He got into a little trouble in the 3rd inning, when he gave up two hits for a run.� 1B Jeremy Reed led off with a double to the base of the center field wall, and was moved over to third base by 2B Rob Hudson's sacrifice bunt.� LF Alejandro De Aza slipped a line drive past 2B Aki Iwamura and into right-center field, scoring Reed from third base.� De Aza was also bunted along, putting him on second base, and he proceeded to steal third base.� Powell struck out CF Buck Coats to end the inning and leave De Aza on third.

Powell retired the Knights in order in the 4th inning, and nearly got out of the 5th inning unscathed.� With one out in the 5th, Jeremy Reed picked up his second hit of the game, a bunt that came to a stop in no-mans'-land in front of third base and to the side of the mound.� By the time 3B Jim Negrych got to the ball, he had no play at first.� Rob Hudson grounded slowly to short, fielded cleanly by SS Argenis Diaz. Diaz made the quick toss to Aki Iwamura at second base to force out Reed, and Iwamura fired on to Jeff Clement at first.� But Hudson just barely beat out the throw to first, so instead of getting out of the inning with a double play, Powell still had to work with two outs and a runner on first.� That brought up Alejandro De Aza, who drilled a triple down the right field line and into the corner for a triple, bringing in Hudson with the Knights' second run.

Indians Snatch Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

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Brandon Moss is congratulated on his home run

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs� 10,� Indianapolis Indians� 8 (box)

Yes, that's what they did.� The Indianapolis Indians squandered a 7-run lead at Victory Field tonight. � They were one strike away from a win, when the Iron Pigs scored 3 runs to take the lead in the 9th inning, and a few minutes later, win the game.

IMG_4002Tribe starter Dana Eveland (photo) was going to be limited to a pitch count of about 75 pitches.� He used up 26 of them in the 1st inning.� Eveland ran the count full on the first two batters he faced, then went to a 2-2 count with an extra foul ball on the third batter.� Former Indy Indian (2007) LF Chris Aguila led off the inning with a soft single into center field.� 2B Ozzie Chavez took that full count, then took another ball, for a walk.� RF Domonic Brown (remember him from the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League?� He was a teammate of Daniel Moskos, Donnie Veal, Brian Friday, Jose Tabata, and others) grounded sharply to the right side, and 2B Jim Negrych's dive kept the ball from going into right field for a single.� Negrych knocked the ball down, then hopped up and threw to first base for the out on Brown, but Aguila moved to third and Chavez to second.� CF John Mayberry dropped a short fly into center field, driving in Aguila with the first run of the game.� With runners on the corners, Eveland caught a break -- 3B Neil Sellers bounced to short, where SS Argenis Diaz started a 6-4-3 double play, Diaz to Negrych to 1B Jeff Clement, to end the inning.

All-Star pitcher Nate Bump made the start for the Iron Pigs.� Bump had recently spent a couple of weeks on the Disabled List, and it appeared that he is not back up to speed yet.� He began the bottom of the frame a little like the way Eveland started the top of the frame.� He ran the count full, then gave up a single on a big bouncer into center field by LF Kevin Melillo, then walked 3B Akinori Iwamura on another full count. The similarilty ended there, though.� Melillo tried to time Bump's delivery and make an early jump for a stolen base, and was easily thrown out when Bump turned and saw him going.� It was an unfortunate mistake, because Melillo would have been to second base in just a moment when Iwamura walked, and Melillo could have scored when CF Alex Presley extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double off the tip of 3B Sellers' glove and into left field.� Instead, when Presley doubled, Iwamura went to third and the Indians had two runners in scoring position.

IMG_40111B Jeff Clement made it back-to-back doubles with a fly that bounced on the track at the base of the wall in the right field corner, scoring both Iwamura and Presley.� RF Brandon Moss slipped a low line drive through the hole and into right field, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.� Clement had been a little slow taking off from second base, maybe thinking that Iron Pigs' RF Domonic Brown would get to the ball more quickly, and so he only reached third base instead of scoring on the play.� No matter, Jim Negrych brought in Clement with a sacrifice fly to center field.� New Tribe catcher Jason Jaramillo (photo) added the third double of the inning, a long fly to right field, where Brown made a leap -- but had the ball bounce off his glove, off the top of the wall, and then down onto the track.� That brought Moss all the way around from first base, scoring the 4th run of the inning.� A strikeout ended the inning, but the Indians had a 4-1 lead, and Nate Bump had thrown 35 pitches.

Rain Delays Indians and Mud Hens: Indians Pull Out The Win

The Indians were leading the Mud Hens 6-3 in the 6th...

FINAL:� Indianapolis Indians� 6,� Toledo Mud Hens� 4 (box)

The big news, even before the game began, was the player moves made by the Pittsburgh Pirates.� With pitcher Zach Duke done with his rehab assignment in Altoona and ready to come back onto the Pirates' active roster, someone else had to be removed from the roster.� That someone is reliever Justin Thomas, who has been optioned back to the Indians.

Secondly, the Pirates have announced that they are optioning back-up catcher Jason Jaramillo to Indianapolis.� The reason given is that he has had minimal playing time during the first half of the season, and needs to get the work in.� Jaramillo will become the regular catcher in Indianapolis after the All-Star break.� The Pirates have also moved pitcher Chris Jakubauskas to the 60-day disabled list, opening up a spot on the 40-man roster.� So, who will take his place?

The Pirates intend to make that announcement later in the week.� Possibilities include Indians' Erik Kratz and Luke Carlin, and Altoona Curve catcher Hector Gimenez (who played for the Indians in 2009).� Kratz is the Indians' only representative for the AAA All-Star game, which will be played on Wednesday in Lehigh Valley -- just a short hop from Kratz's home town.� He has a lot of family and friends coming to see him play, though he will not be the starting catcher in the game.� SO -- is the delay in the Pirates' announcement so that they can give Kratz time to participate in the All-Star game?� If he were pulled at the last minute, it might be tricky to get someone else there to represent the Indians.� Carlin has only just come back from his ankle injury and is not entirely up to speed yet.� Gimenez could certainly handle things at the major league level -- but what would that say to Erik Kratz?� "Sure, Erik, you're a great guy and we were considering you for the major league back-up back in March, and sure, you are an All-Star for two years running at the AAA level -- but we're going to promote Gimenez from AA over you.� Oh, and when you get back to Indy, you won't be the starting catcher either."

Back to the game.. which was delayed for about 15 minutes before even starting, then halted again due to rain in the 2nd inning.� That delay lasted over an hour.

LF Kevin Melillo got the Indians started with a double driven into right field to begin the game.� 3B Akinori Iwamura followed with a single into right field, and Melillo raced around from second to score.�� The Mud Hens came right back in the bottom of the frame, against Tribe starter Dana Eveland. SS Will Rhymes led off with a single through into left field, then Eveland struck out 3B Brent Dlugach.� LF Ryan Strieby doubled, moving Rhymes to third, and DH Jeff Larish brought in both Rhymes and Strieby with a single up the middle, to give the Mud Hens a 2-1 lead.� Eveland walked 1B Jeff Frazier, but then got CF Casper wells to bounce into a double play, ending the inning.

Eveland had gotten two outs and had 2B Max Leon on first base after a single when the rain halted play in the bottom of the 2nd.� The delay was long enough so that Eveland did not come back out, with workhorse Jeremy Powell taking the mound instead.� Powell ended the 2nd inning, then pitched two more scoreless innings, allowing only a walk.

Tribe Drops Double Header; Eveland’s Debut

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Louisville Bats �6, �Indianapolis Indians �0 � --- � Game 1 (box)

It was all Louisville in Game 1 as the Bats battered starter Dana Eveland (photo above) in his Indians debut. �Eveland, who had not pitched since before being designated for assignment about two weeks ago, did not make it out of the third inning, and was responsible for 5 of the 6 Bats' runs, on 6 hits and a walk.

The Bats scored one run in the top of the 1st, on a single up the middle by SS Zack Cozart, a grounder by 1B Yonder Alonso to move Cozart to second, and an RBI double down the right field line by LF Todd Frazier. �Eveland began the second inning by giving up a single to RF Wladimir Balantien, then a 2-run homer by 2B Chris Valaika, to boost the Bats' lead to 3-0. � The 3rd inning opened with another home run, by Alonso, a solo blast to straight-out center field, bouncing off the top of the wall and into the ground cover in front of the batter's eye trees. �A double to the wall in the right-center field alley by Frazier followed the home run, then a groundout to second base, moving Frazier to third base.

That was all that manager Frank Kremblas wanted to see from Eveland. �He had thrown 53 pitches (34 strikes) in his 2.1 innings. �Brian Bass, who had pitched a 1-2-3 inning last night, came on in relief of Eveland. �The first batter Bass faced, Balentien, took a long fly ball to center field -- not deep enough for another home run, but plenty deep enough for Frazier to tag up and score from third base. �That run was also charged to Eveland. �Bass hit C Ryan Hanigan with a pitch and walked Valaika (unintentionally intentional?), then struck out Bats' starter Chad Reineke to end the inning.

The Bats kept going against Bass in the 4th. �With one out, Bass walked Cozart, who stole second base. �Alonso doubled into center field, bringing in Cozart from second base.