Tag: Jim Negrych

Looking heavenward for help?

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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.

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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.

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Home plate umpire Chris Ward and manger Frank Kremblas discuss an ejection.

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Charlotte Knights� 3,� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

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Indians' starter Daniel McCutchen (photo, making a pickoff throw to first base) suffered another tough loss this afternoon at Victory Field.� Like in his previous four starts, McCutchen gave up 3 runs (it was 2 runs on June 21st) but did not get enough run support to get the win.� Today McCutchen pitched 8 innings, his longest start of the season, and threw 101 pitches (67 strikes).� Other than a 3-inning rain-shortened start in May, this was McCutchen's first start in which he did not strike out anyone.

McCutchen gave up just 6 hits in his 8 innings.� The first hit, to Knights' lead-off batter CF Alejandro De Aza to begin the game, was erased when De Aza was thrown out by C Luke Carlin trying to steal second base.� After two of the hits, a double by RF Stefan Gartrell in the 4th and a single to De Aza in the 8th, the runner was left on base.� (McCutchen retired the side in order in 3 innings.)

That left just three hits that were a problem for McCutchen.� LF Josh Kroeger led off the top of the 2nd inning with a line drive single into center field.� He moved to second base when 3B Brent Morel grounded slowly to third base -- 3B Jim Negrych charged the ball, but had only the one play at first base.� A balk by McCutchen put Kroeger on third base, but that turned out to not matter.� A moment later, 1B Jeremy Reed put a long fly ball well over the right field wall, landing on the patio beyond the right field corner.� Charlotte up, 2-0.

With one out in the 6th inning, 2B Luis Rodriguez deposited a home run just barely over the wall in the right field corner.� Rodriguez has now homered in each of the three games so far in this series between the Indians and the Knights, and in fact, it is his 4th home run in his last 4 games.

Those were all the hits the Knights needed.

Yesterday, Knight's starter Carlos Torres, who leads the International League in walks with 56, walked 7 batters.� Second in the league in free passes is Charlotte's Lucas Harrell -- today's starter.� Harrell came into the game having walked 53 batters so far in the season.� Unfortunately for the Indians, he left the game with exactly the same number of walks.

The Indians had at least one runner on base in 4 of Harrell's 6 innings, with 6 hits.� Unfortunately, four of those base runners were eliminated on force plays, including two double plays.� DH Kevin Melillo led off the bottom of the 1st with a soft looper into left field.� He was removed when 2B Brian Friday bounced into a double play.� LF Brian Bixler beat out a bunt up the third base line for a hit in the 5th inning, but he was erased when SS Argenis Diaz bounced into a double play.� Diaz slipped a grounder past the Knights' 2B Rodriguez for a single in the 3rd, but Melillo's grounder to first base forced him out at second base (photo).� There wasn't time for a throw to first base on that play.

The remaining force out was part of a rally in the 2nd inning, along with one of the Indians' other hits.� The Knights had just taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning, and with one out, Jim Negrych lined a single into center field.� Luke Carlin followed with a grounder right to SS Rob Hudson.� Hudson tossed to second base to force out Negrych, but he airmailed the relay throw to first base, and Carlin was safe at first.� 1B Doug Bernier, lined a double down the right field line and into the corner.� Carlin raced around the bases, scoring from first base, to cut the Knights' lead to 2-1.

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Mound conference

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

For 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.

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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.

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Moss' homer in the 1st.�







Indianapolis Indians� 17,� Charlotte Knights� 11 (box)

DH Brandon Moss went 3-for-5 with a double and two home runs, contributing 6 RBI, in the Indians' big win over the Charlotte Knights at Victory Field tonight.� The two teams combined for 28 runs and 31 hits (and 5 errors), with the Indians posting 17 runs and 14 hits.� That surpassed the previous season high of 15 runs in a game (June 27th against Toledo), but fell short of the most hits in a game this season (19 hits, in that same game).� The Indians scored in 5 of the first 6 innings, and they capped the offensive onslaught with a 9-run 7th inning.

Mike Crotta (photo) made the start for the Indians, and he earned his first win since June 9th.� Crotta pitched 5.1 innings and allowed 11 hits, with 5 runs and 5 strikeouts.� Crotta had some tough-luck moments in this outing.� In the top of the 1st, with one out, Charlotte's 3B Luis Rodriguez drove a fly ball to the deepest part of Victory Field, the left-center field alley at 418 feet, for a triple.�� Crotta struck out the next batter, but then RF Stefan Gartrell took a high hop right over the mound.� Crotta, going on instinct, made the leap to try to catch the ball, but only managed to deflect it, and the ball dropped to the grass behind the mound, out of everyone's reach.� It was ruled a single, and it brought in Rodriguez from third base.� 1B Josh Kroeger dribbled a slow roller to the right of the mound and in from the infield dirt.� 2B Aki Iwamura charged in to make the play, but by the time he got to it, Kroeger was nearly to the bag.� Iwamura rushed his throw and he was off-balance besides, and the throw scooted to the infield side of the first base bag, putting Kroeger safe at first.� Crotta ended that inning with a grounder to short.

The Indians came right back in the bottom of the 1st.� LF Kevin Melillo led off with a walk.� Aki Iwmura slapped a 1-2 pitch right back to the mound, where it hit Charlotte starter Brandon Hynick, probably on the glove.� The ball ricocheted off Hynick, going straight at the visitor's dugout, crossing the first base line just out of reach of Hynick, who recovered quickly enough to try to chase it.

A sacrifice bunt by CF Alex Presley moved both base runners into scoring position, and the speedy Presley nearly beat out the throw to give the Indians full bases.� Hynick struck out 1B Jeff Clement, bringing up Brandon Moss (photo).� Moss responded by taking the first pitch he saw over the wall in straight-away center field for his first home run of the season while in the Designated Hitter role.� The Indians had a 3-1 lead, which they never surrendered.

The Tribe added two more runs in the 3rd inning.� Alex Presley singled off the end of his bat and into right center field, then Jeff Clement walked.� After a fly out, a walk to RF Jonathan Van Every also walked to load the bases.� 3B Jim Negrych drove a liner into center field for an RBI single, bringing in Presley and Clement for a 5-1 lead.

Mike Crotta kept the Knights scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd innings.� He had to deal with loaded bases in the 2nd, when C Donny Lucy reached base on throwing error (low throw that Clement couldn't handle) by SS Brian Friday.� DH Jeremy Reed blooped a single into short right field, where Jonathan Van Every tried to dive for it but missed.� A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, but the next batter, Alejandro De Aza lined out right to Jeff Clement.� It happened so fast that neither runner had time to even get off his respective bag.� Crotta retired the side in order in the 3rd inning, then began the 4th with a strikeout and a grounder to first.� With two outs, the next three batters all had hits.� SS Rob Hudson doubled down the left field line to the left field wall, where Kevin Melillo played the carom.� Alejandro De Aza skipped a grounder past the mound and past the second base bag for a single, and that drove in Hudson from second base.� Then Luis Rodriguez homered over the right field wall for 2 more runs, and the Knights had moved to within one run of the Indians, 5-4.

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Charlie Morton was pouring 'em in there.

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Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs� 3,� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

For the past three days, the Indians have been losing, but they have been piling up the hits:� 16 on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and 12 on Wednesday.� Today, the Tribe bats were shut down by strikeouts -- a total of 16 K's -- and they were held to just 3 hits.� And, the Iron Pigs won again, sweeping the 4-game series from the Indians at Victory Field.

Former Indy Indian (2006) and Iron Pigs' starter Brandon Duckworth gave up all three of the Indians hits.� LF Kevin Melillo had two of them.� He opened the bottom of the 1st with a double off the lower part of the right field wall.� Two ground outs, both to second base, by 2B Aki Iwamura and CF Alex Presley, brought Melillo around to score.� Presley picked up the RBI.

Melillo drove a liner into right field again in the 3rd inning, but when he tried to reach second base, Iron Pigs' RF John Mayberry's perfect throw beat him to the bag.� It was unfortunate for the Indians, because if Melillo had stayed at first, he would have scored in just another moment -- when Aki Iwamura blasted a home run over the wall in straight out center field (photo).

Those were all the hits the Indians had in the game.� There were four walks, two to 3B Jim Negrych, , and one each to Melillo and RF Brandon Moss. Duckworth was also responsible for the walks, which he scattered over four innings, so that the Indians never had more than one base runner on at a time.

Duckworth also was responsible for 11 of the Indians' strikeouts.� He struck out one in the 1st, then 2 batters in each of the next 5 innings.� After two K's and a walk in the 6th, Duckworth was relieved by Michael Stutes.� Stutes finished the inning, then retired the side in order for the first time in the game, including another strikeout.� Antonio Bastardo and Scott Mathieson each pitched a perfect inning to finish the game, and each struck out two Tribe batters.� 1B Jeff Clement had the most trouble in the strikeout follies -- he struck out in all 4 of his at-bats.� Jim Negrych was the only batter who did not strike out at all.

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Van Every (#24) was supposed to be the hero

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Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs� 12,� Indianapolis Indians� 8 (box)

Two 4-run innings by the Iron Pigs stole the thunder from pinch-hitter Jonathan Van Every (photo above), as the Iron Pigs defeated the Indians for the third straight game at Victory Field this afternoon.� Van Every had given the Indians the lead in the 7th inning with the Tribe's first pinch-hit home run of the season, and the Indians were all set to have Van Every be the hero of the game... until disaster struck in the 8th and 9th.

The Indians took the early lead in the bottom of the 1st, when they jumped all over Iron Pigs' starter Michael Cisco, who was making his AAA debut.� LF Kevin Melillo led off with a grounder that hit the side of the mound and kept going right up the middle and into center field.� 3B Aki Iwamura dribbled a little oops-swing (not a bunt) down the first base line, and was tagged out, but it was just as good as a sacrifice bunt, as Melillo moved to second base.� CF Alex Presley extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single through the hole and into right field, driving in Melillo (photo).� 1B Jeff Clement moved Presley to third with another grounder to the right side, just past the Iron Pigs' first baseman, but both Presley and Clement were left on base when Cisco got a strikeout and a grounder to first to end the inning.� Cisco settled down after that first inning.� He faced just the minimum number of batters over the next three innings, striking out the side in the 2nd.� In the third, Melillo singled again, but was thrown out trying to steal second base.

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Brian Burres (photo) made the start for the Indians.� He retired the Iron Pigs in order in the 1st, and easily worked around a single to left-center field by 3B Neil Sellers in the 2nd inning.� He made a mistake in the 3rd, though, and that tied the game -- a 2-1 pitch taken over the left field wall and onto the sidewalk behind the grass berm for a solo home run by former Indy Indian LF Chris Aguila.

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The Iron Pigs broke the tie in the next inning.� Burres got the first out of the inning, then loaded the bases with the next three batters.� CF John Mayberry chopped a high bouncer off the plate and up and over the mound.� 2B Jim Negrych had to wait for the ball to drop out of the stratosphere before he could make the catch and throw to first, and by then, Mayberry had already crossed the bag.� Neil Sellers lined a single into right-center, moving Mayberry to third base, and 1B Paul Sellers walked to load 'em up.� Burres struck out C Dane Sardinha, and needed only one more out... but SS Brian Bocock, who had the huge game-winning RBI triple two days ago, doubled down the right field line, driving in both Mayberry and Sellers, and the Iron Pigs had a 3-1 lead.

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Conference time

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Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs� 4,�� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

Back-to-back home runs in the 3rd inning was all the Iron Pigs needed to beat the Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Former Indianapolis Indian CF Chris Duffy smacked the first homer, and 2B Ozzie Chavez followed with the second.

The start of the game was delayed by nearly 90 minutes, though it wasn't raining, and in fact the sun was shining for part of that time.� The sun was not shining in downtown Indianapolis at around 5 pm, though.� That's when a sudden downpour sprang up with virtual no warning, catching the Victory Field ground crew without the tarp on the field.� By the time the tarp could be spread, quite a lot of water had gotten onto the infield.� Shortly before 6 pm, the tarp was pulled back and the crew went to work, first on the third base line and the third base and home plate areas, then later on the opposite side of the infield.� Several times in the process there was a conference on the field (photo above), including Lehigh Valley manager Dave Huppert, two of the umpires (black shirts on the left), head groundskeeper Joey Stevenson (red shirt), Indians' assistant general manager Randy Lewandowski (white shirt), and Indians' manager Frank Kremblas (far right).� It took the crew more than 2.5 hours to get the infield into a safe and playable condition, and the game began at about 8:30 pm.

Daniel McCutchen (photo) made the start for the Indians, and he generally looked sharp.� He threw 80 pitches (52 strikes) over 5 innings, and was only removed at that point because his turn in the batting order came around in the bottom of the 5th and the Indians had a runner on base and were trying to catch up.

McCutchen gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk, and struck out 5 batters.� He retired the side in order only one time, in the 5th.� He worked around one base runner in the 1st (a walk to LF Domonic Brown), in the 2nd (a single by C Dane Sardinha), and the 4th (he hit Sardinha with a pitch).� The only inning that gave him any serious trouble was the 3rd.

That inning began with Iron Pigs' pitcher JA Happ taking a 2-2 pitch down the right field line and into the corner for a double.� Happ is a lifetime .070 hitter, who has had one previous double, in 2009.� Chris Duffy took McCutchen's next pitch for a ride over the wall in right-center field, for a no-doubt 2-run homer.� Then Ozzie Chavez also hit the first pitch from McCutchen ove rthe right field wall, to the right of where Duffy's sailed out.� McCutchen took a deep breath, and struck out the next batter, Domonic Brown, then ended the inning with two ground outs.� After the homers, McCutchen faced only one batter over the minimum for the rest of his might, and that was when he hit Sardinha with a pitch.

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Brandon Moss is congratulated on his home run

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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.

Tribe 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.

1B 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.

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Indianapolis Indians� 4,� Rochester Red Wings� 3 (box)

Three RBI from RF Jonathan Van Every (photo) gave the Indians the spark they needed to get the win this afternoon at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY, giving the Indians a split of the 4-game series with the Red Wings, and a 6-4 record on the extended road trip.

Like yesterday, today's game involved the teams trading the lead and playing catch-up.� Tribe starter Mike Crotta had little trouble with the Red Wings in the first two innings, allowing only a single to C Jose Morales, when his grounder into right field hopped off Van Every's glove, giving Morales the chance to reach second base.� Morales tagged and advanced to third base on the second of two fly outs, but Crotta left him standing there when he ended the inning with a ground out.

Crotta did get into more difficulty in the 3rd inning.� With one out, the next four batters reached base safely.� Crotta (photo below) walked CF Dustin Martin, then SS Trevor Plouff's knocked a bloopy hit into center field, just out of reach of Tribe CF Alex Presley. Martin had to hold up to see whether or not Presley was going to make the catch, so he was only able to get as far as third base on the hit.� LF Matt Macri singled into left field, just past the diving 3B Akinori Iwamura, and Martin scored easily.� Plouffe stepped up to third base on the play, and then scored on RF Brian Dinkelman's RBI single into right field.� Jose Morales was next, and he hit a line drive -- but right at 1B Jeff Clement, for the second out of the inning.� Clement hesitated before throwing the ball to second base, which gave Macri the extra second needed to get back to the bag safely.� It turned out to not matter, as 2B Brendan Harris grounded into a force out to end the inning.� The Red Wings were ahead, 2-0.

The Tribe batters put two runners on base in each of the first three innings, but could not bring any of those six runners around to score.� Aki Iwamura and SS Brian Bixler both singled in the top of the 1st, while Alex Presley and C Luke Carlin walked in the 2nd, and Iwamura and DH Brandon Moss walked in the 3rd.�� The Red Wings' pitching staff gave up a combined 11 walks in the game, but those four were wasted opportunities for the Indians.

Rochester starter Ryan Mullins pitched 2 innings, but when he came out to warm up prior to the top of the 3rd, he suddenly stopped and called out his training staff, then left the game.� He has been battling back problems recently, and they may have flared up again.

In the top of the 4th, Alex Presley and Jonathan Van Every took it upon themselves to erase the Red Wings' lead.� Presley led off the inning with a triple over the head of CF Dustin Martin.� Presley thought about holding up at second base, but when Martin's throw in from deep center field was coming in way high, Presley aggressively headed for third, and arrived there in plenty of time.� Van Every tied the game with a magnificent no-doubt-about-it 2-run homer over the right-center field wall.

Indianapolis Indians� 10, �� Rochester Red Wings� 7 (box)

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Two 4-run innings helped the Indians overcome a shaky start by Charlie Morton, as the Indians held on to beat the Red Wings at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY tonight.� Twice the Indians took the lead and twice the Red Wings tied it up.� The third time the Tribe took a lead, the Red Wings rallied again and got within one run, before the Indians took a definitive lead with their second 4-run inning.� The two teams combined for 17 runs on 28 hits, and the Red Wings out-hit the Indians, 16 - 12.� CF Alex Presley (photo) led the Tribe with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored.

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Charlie Morton got into trouble almost with his first pitch.� The first two batters he faced, RF Brian Dinkleman and SS Trevor Plouffe both ripped line drives for two singles.� LF Jacque Jones also hit a long ball, but luckily, it was more of a fly, and it fell into the glove of Alex Presley in center field.� DH Jose Morales grounded to first, where 1B Brian Myrow turned and threw for the force out on Plouffe at second base.� That put runners on the corners, but Morton got a strike out on 2B Brendan Harris to get himself out of the jam.

DH Jeff Clement gave Morton (photo) a boost with a solo home run to lead off the top of the 2nd inning -- over the right field wall, over the bullpen, over the high wall behind the bullpen, and into a right field picnic area.� Morton, now with a one-run lead, got right back into trouble in the bottom of the inning, with two singles and a walk.� A lead-off single by 3B D'Angelo Jimenez was erased with a double play, SS Argenis Diaz to 2B Jim Negrych to 1B Brian Myrow (6-4-3).� C Wilson Ramos singled into left field, and CF Dustin Martin walked and Morton again was working with two runners on base.� Dinkelman drove a liner into right field, but Tribe RF Brandon Moss made a long run and made the catch at his shoetops to end the inning and again get Morton out of a jam.

Morton's luck did not hold in the 3rd.� Plouffe reached base on a throwing error by his counterpart at short, Argenis Diaz.� Morales singled, pushing Plouffe to second base, and Morton's wild pitch put Plouffe on third.� Harris lifted a sacrifice fly, and Plouffe scored an unearned run to tie the game at 1-1.

The Tribe wasted an opportunity in the 4th, when 3B Akinori Iwamura and Brian Myrow worked back-to-back walks to open the inning.� A coaching visit to the mound settled down Rochester starter Matt Fox, who got two fly outs and a strikeout to end the inning without a run scoring.� The Red Wings also missed out on an opportunity in the 4th, when Wilson Ramos singled, but was erased as he headed for second base in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play.

Rochester Red Wings� 7,� Indianapolis Indians� 5 (box)

Late inning runs put the Red Wings ahead to stay as the Indians lost at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY tonight.

Pitching was the story in the first half of the game.� Red Wings' starter Anthony Swarzak pitched 5 shutout innings and allowed only one hit, a double by LF Kevin Melillo to lead off the 5th inning.� Swarzak did walk an amazing 5 Tribe batters, though none of them were able to come around and score.� After 3B Akinori Iwamura reached base on a fielding error by Swarzak in the top of the 1st, 1B Brian Myrow walked.� A strikeout and a ground out ended the inning with both still on base.� CF Alex Presley walked in the 2nd and the 4th, and Iwamura and Myrow both walked in the third, but all were left on base.

Indians' starter Daniel McCutchen (photo above) faced only one batter over the minimum in his first 4 innings of work.� Unfortunately that one extra batter, DH Jose Morales blasted a lead-off homer to begin the 2nd inning and give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.� The Red Wings extended their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the 5th.� RF Brian Dinkelman led off the inning by slipping a ground ball past Tribe 2B Jim Negrych, for a single into right field.� 2B Brendan harris lined a double into the left-center field gap, and Dinkelman came around to score from first base.� McCutchen walked 1B Brock Peterson.� C Wilson Ramos grounded to short, where SS Argenis Diaz tried to start a double play.� Peterson was out at second base, but Negrych's throw to first base sailed wide to the outfield side of the bag and got past Brian Myrow.� The throwing error let Ramos advance to second base and let Harris score.� 3B Matt Macri singled on a little looper into left field, though Ramos was held at third base.� McCutchen struck out CF Dustin Martin for the second out, but walked SS Trevor Plouffe to load the bases.� McCutchen got out of that when LF Jacque Jones grounded to second base, and no further runs scored, but the Red Wings were ahead� 3-0.

RF Jonathan Van Every got the Indians one run closer with a solo home run to straight-away center field in the top of the 6th.� They took another step closer in the top of the 8th.� Jim Negrych and Alex Presley hit back-to-back singles with one out.� After a pitching change, Van Every struck outs.� Then C Jason Jaramillo, just down from Pittsburgh, grounded to short, but this time it was the Red Wings who had the throwing error.� SS Trevor Plouffe's throw to first got past 1B Peterman, and Negrych scored as Jaramillo was safe at first.� The inning ended when Argenis Diaz struck out.

Indianapolis Indians� 3,� Toledo Mud Hens� 1 (box)

RF Jonathan Van Every's (photo) 3-run homer in the top of the 9th gave the Indianapolis Indians the win over the Toledo Mud Hens tonight at Fifth Third Field in Toledo.� SS Argenis Diaz went 3-for-3 at the plate, including a double, and CF Alex Presley went 3-for-4, and also had a double.

The pitchers were kept busy for the first four innings of the game, though neither team scored.� Tribe starter Mike Crotta gave up a double to LF Ryan Strieby with two outs in the 1st and hit 3B Jeff Larish with a pitch, but a line out to Tribe 3B Akinori Iwamura ended the inning.� Crotta worked around a single by CF Casper Wells in the 2nd.� He walked RF Jon Weber in the 3rd, but erased him with a double play.

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Toledo starter Rick Porcello gave up a lone single to Aki Iwamura in the 1st inning, and a double by Alex Presley in the 4th.� The Indians threatened in the 2nd, beginning with a single by Presley.� A balk moved Presley to second base.� C Luke Carlin walked, then Presley was caught trying to steal third base.� Jonathan Van Every also walked, giving the Indians runners on first and second.� Argenis Diaz took a grounder up the middle for a single, and Carlin rounded third and raced for the plate.� The throw in from center field was on-target and on time though, and Carlin was out at the plate.� The Indians also put two runners on base in the 5th, when Diaz doubled off the wall in the right-center field gap, and LF Kevin Melillo walked, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.

The Mud Hens got to Crotta (photo) in the 5th.� Casper Wells walked, and DH Max Leon grounded up the middle, just out of reach of Indians' 2B Jim Negrych, sending Wells to third base. C Jeff Kunkel brought in Wells with a sacrifice fly, and the Mud Hens had a 1-0 lead.� Jon Weber also singled on a line drive into left field.� Leon, eager for an extra run, came around from first base, as LF Kevin Melillo fired the ball in from left field.� The throw sailed over the first cut-off man, but went right to the second cut-off man, Aki Iwamura.� Iwamura relayed the throw to Carlin at the plate, and that throw was nearly perfect.� As Leon slid around to the foul side of the plate and tried to reach in with his left hand to tag the dish, Carlin had the ball in his hand, and only had to lean to his left to tag Leon before Leon could touch anything but dirt with his hand.� That ended the inning, and kept the score tight, at 1-0.

That one run looked bigger and bigger over the next three innings.� The Indians went down in order in the top of the 6th.� Mike Crotta worked around a double by Jeff Larish in the bottom of the 6th, but kept the Mud Hens from scoring again.� Crotta exited after 6 innings, having thrown 99 pitches (64 strikes) and allowed the run on 5 hits and 3 walks, with 7 strikeouts. Wil Ledezma relieved Crotta to begin the 7th.� He walked Casper Wells, then struck out the next three batters.� The Indians' first two batters struck out in the 7th, then Argenis Diaz had his third hit of the game, a line drive into right field.� Diaz was able to get to second base when RF Jon Weber's throw back to the infield zipped right past the first base bag, bounced off the dugout facing, and ended up by the backstop behind home plate.� Diaz was left stranded on base with a ground out.� DH Brandon Moss singled in the 8th, and was also left on base.� Jean Machi retired the side in order in the bottom of the 8th, including two strikeouts.