Tag: Jonathan Van Every

Just a few notes from here and there:

Check out this story by Lee Judge of the Kansas City Star. He talks about Clint Hurdle, but it generally applies to almost any minor league system.  I'm trying to picture players sleeping in the luggage racks.

The Indy Indians (and presumably the rest of the Pirates' minor league camp) have finished their official spring training games, with the last one yesterday against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in Bradenton.  No word on the results.  The Indians usually arrive in Indianapolis on Monday or Tuesday, and have a couple of final workouts before Opening Day on Thursday.

Some former Pirates and Pirates' farmhands are moving around:
P Romulo Sanchez was released by the Yankees, and has signed to play with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan.
P Ty Taubenheim was released by the Rangers.
The Diamondbacks have signed Inf Josh Wilson.
The Nationals have released OF Jonathan Van Every.
The White Sox released P Jeff Sues, but snapped up Inf Christian Colonel after the Pirates released him this week.   
Inf/Of Luis Cruz was removed from the Brewers' 40-man roster and elected to become a free agent.
P Eric Hacker signed a minor league contract with the Twins.  
The Rays have released P Jonah Bayliss. 

UPDATE:  The Altoona Curve roster has been announced:  check it out here 
Note that Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, and Tony Watson are NOT on the Altoona roster, so they should be in Indianapolis.  Also, Chase d'Arnaud, Matt Hague, and Gorkys Hernandez should be in Indy.

Gone for a few days, and all kinds of changes going on....

The Pirates have removed starting pitcher Zach Duke, infielder Andy LaRoche, and outfielder Delwyn Young from their 40-man roster.  

Duke (photo) was the starting pitcher for the Indianapolis Indians on Opening Day in 2005, the beginning of the Pirates' affiliation with the Indians.  Duke faced the rehabbing Curt Schilling, and he and the Indians beat Schilling pretty easily.  

The open spots on the 40-man roster, plus two other already open spots, went to a group of minor league pitchers:  

Mike Crotta, a righty who made 4 starts for Altoona before he was promoted to Indianapolis.  He made 24 starts for the Indians and pitched 131.1 innings, with a 4.93 ERA.
Daniel Moskos, who split the season between the Indy Indians and the Altoona Curve.  The lefty was outstanding for the Curve, with a 1.52 ERA and 21 saves, though he struggled for the Indians, where he earned a 10.38 ERA in 17.1 innings of relief.
Tony Watson, another lefty who spent the season with the Curve.  He made a few starts (9) but mostly worked in relief, earning a 2.67 ERA in 111.1 innings.  
Jeff Locke, split the season between Altoona and the Bradenton Marauders.  After earning a 3.54 ERA in 17 starts for Bradenton, Locke was promoted to AA, where the southpaw made an additional 10 starts and earned a consistent 3.59 ERA.   
Kyle McPherson, a right-hander who spent most of the season with A-level West Virginia.  McPherson made 21 starts and 5 relief appearances for the Power, with a 3.59 ERA in 117.2 innings, though he had some hot and cold swings.  McPherson also pitched 4 scoreless innings for Bradenton in September.  

Louisville Bats� 6,� Indianapolis Indians 3 ..�� (box)

The Indianapolis Indians wrapped up the 2010 season at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky this afternoon with a loss to the Bats.� The Tribe finished the season just below .500 with a 71-73 record, and they finished the season series against Louisville with the Bats having a 12-10 game advantage.� The Bats' win, combined with Columbus' 5-2 loss to Toledo, gives the Bats the International League Western Division title.� The Clippers had been in first place in the Western Division for most of the season, but Louisville had a second-half surge and slipped up behind the Clippers for the win at the finish line.� The Clippers will be the Wild Card team in the International League Playoffs, which begin on Wednesday.

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NOTES:

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The Indians begin the 2011 season on Thursday April 7th, at home at Victory Field, against the Columbus Clippers.� That's just 7 months from tomorrow, and 213 days away.

Go Tribe!

(photos by Nancy)

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Indianapolis Indians� 5,� Louisville Bats� 3 ..��� (box)

RF Brandon Moss's (photo) double in the top of the 7th inning gave the Indians the winning run and gave Moss his league-leading 96th RBI at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky this evening.� RBI #96 secured Moss' win of the International League's RBI title.� The second-place slugger, Durham's Dan Johnson, is now playing in the major leagues, and the third-place slugger, Gwinnett's Freddie Freeman, is also in the majors. Two players are tied for fourth, Lehigh Valley's Andy Tracy and Charlotte's Stefan Gartrell, are both still in this league, but one of them would have to get 16 RBI tomorrow to catch up to Moss.�


Tribe LF Kevin Melillo got down to business with the first pitch of the game, which he ripped on a line drive into right field for a triple.� SS Pedro Ciriaco lined a single into center field, allowing Melillo to score easily from third base.� After a strikeout by CF Alex Presley, Moss lined a single into right field, moving Ciriaco to second base.� Another strikeout to 1B Mitch Jones, then C Erik Kratz singled up the middle, driving in Ciriaco, and the Indians had the early 2-0 lead.

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Chris Jakubauskas (photo) made the start for the Indians, and he was happy to take the mound with two runs in his pocket.� Jakubauskas buzzed through the first three innings, allowing only a double -- to Bats' pitcher Jeremy Horst -- in the 3rd inning.� Jakubauskas began the 4th inning by giving up a single to SS Zack Cozart and a walk to Danny Dorn, but he retired the next three batters, and the two runners were left standing on base.

The Bats did get to Jakubauskas in the 5th.� Three consecutive singles opened the inning -- by 3B Eric Eymann, 2B Kris Negron, and pinch-hitter Mike Costanzo.� Eymann scored on Costanzo's grounder that just barely got past 2B Brian Friday and into right field. � CF Dave Sappelt followed with a grounder to Friday, who was able to get the force out at second base.� The speedy Sappelt beat out Pedro Ciriaco's relay throw to first base, as Negron scored the tying run from third base.� Zack Cozart grounded to 3B Doug Bernier, who also got the force out of Sappelt at second base, but Friday's thow to first base was not in time to get the out on Cozart.� The inning ended with a pop out by Danny Dorn.

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The wind had the flags doing this, and the flag poles swaying, all evening.

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Louisville Bats� 16,� Indianapolis Indians� 6 ..���� (box)

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It got ugly early at Victory Field tonight, and it didn't get much better as the game went on.� The Louisville Bats clobbered the Indianapolis Indians 16 - 6, and the two teams combined for a total of 30 hits.

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The Ugly:

* Starter Mike Crotta (photo) lasted only one inning.� The first four batters in the top of the 1st reached base:� a slow roller single to short that CF Dave Sappelt beat out for a single, double down the left field line by SS Zach Cozart, four pitch walk to RF Danny Dorn, and a bases-clearing triple to the 418' mark in left-center by 1B Todd Frazier.� Tribe SS Pedro Ciriaco made a diving stop and great throw to first base to make the first out of the inning on C Devin Mesoraco, then Crotta walked 3B Mike Costanzo.� 2B Eric Eymann hit a little dribbler just a few feet in front of home, but when C Jason Jaramillo had to leave the plate to field the ball, since he had a better angle than Crotta did for the throw to first, then Frazier took the opportunity to break for home and score.� LF Michael Griffin capped the inning with a wind-aided 2-run homer over the right field wall.� Crotta struck out Bats' pitcher Tom Cochran to end the inning.� The Bats had a 6 run advantage before the Indians came to the plate.

*After two scoreless innings and just one walk, reliever Corey Hamman (photo) got into trouble in the 4th.� With one out, Michael Griffin drove another triple to the 418' sign in left-center.� Hamman struck out Cochran again, for the second out of the inning, but he had trouble finding that third out.� The next four batters reached base -- an RBI double into center field by Sappelt, a walk to Cozart, a 2-RBI double that rattled around in the right field corner by Dorn, and an RBI double out of CF Alex Presley's reach in center by Frazier.� Bats lead, 10-3.

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*Anthony Claggett gave up another 2-run homer to Griffin in the 5th inning, for a 12 - 3 lead.� Then he gave up 3 more runs in the 7th.� With one out, he surrendered a double to Eymann, singles to Griffin and pinch-hitter Sean Henry (RBI), then after a ground out, another RBI single by Cozart.� Claggett was relieved by Brian Bass, who gave up another single to Dorn, driving in the third run of the inning.� Bats up 15-6.

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Heroes at Victory Field




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

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The 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.

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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.

In 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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Jason Jaramillo and Brad Lincoln try to reassure umpire Chad Whitson.

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Columbus Clippers� 4,� Indianapolis Indians� 1 .....��� (box)

Pitchers Brad Lincoln (photo) and Joe Martinez piggy-backed through 7 innings at Victory Field tonight, but the Indianapolis Indians' batters could not provide them with much run support, and the Columbus Clippers took the win in the last meeting between the two teams for the 2010 season.

Like last night, the Indians cracked the scoreboard first.� RF Brandon Moss led off the 2nd inning with a smooth line drive into left field for a single.� DH Jeff Clement, with the Indians on a rehab assignment, took a 4-pitch walk, moving Moss to second base.� 1B Mitch Jones made the first out of the inning by swinging at an outside pitch for strike three.� C Jason Jaramillo brought in Moss from second with a line drive just over the leaping Clippers' 2B Cord Phelps, to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.� The inning ended with a strike out-throw out double play, when Clement took off for third base as SS Doug Bernier swung at strike three.

And like last night, the lead did not last long.

Brad Lincoln began the game by giving up a dribbly infield single along the third base line to RF Jose Constanza.� Lincoln got the next two batters to fly out, then picked Constanza off first base to end the inning.� He retired the Clippers in order in the 2nd inning, including two strikeouts.� The third inning began with a solo home run by LF Matt McBride, to tie the score at 1-1.

Next to the plate was former Indy Indian C Luke Carlin.� Carlin and Lincoln, former battery mates decided to have a little fun with one another.� On Lincoln's first pitch, a ball, Carlin feinted a bunt -- something he knows irritates Lincoln.� Lincoln responded by throwing the second pitch about 3 feet behind Carlin -- not close to him so that Carlin had any chance of jumping back and getting hit.� Both players grinned at one another, and prepared to get down to the real business at hand.� Unfortunately, the umpiring crew did not see the same humor in the exchange.� 2B Umpire Alan Porter walked in to the mound and motioned to home plate umpire Chad Whitson.� The two conferred and talked to Lincoln, who appeared to be reassuring them that he had no intention of hurting his former teammate.� But the umpires were still not impressed.� Whitson warned both dugouts and managers, as Carlin turned away with a grimace on his face (photo).� Jason Jaramillo and Brad Lincoln continued to try to reassure Whitson (photo at top), but they did not seem to be making any progress.

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Indianapolis Indians� 1,� Toledo Mud Hens� 0 (box)

Indians' starter Jeremy Powell earned his 9th win of the season with 7.1 shutout innings against the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio tonight.� Powell walked 5 batters and hit one, but he allowed only 2 hits.� The Indians posted only 4 hits, but made them count, as they squeaked past the Mud Hens.

The first three Indians' batters of the game did all the scoring the Indians needed.� LF Kevin Melillo opened the game by taking a walk on four straight balls.� Melillo quicky stole second base, then moved over to third when 3B Akinori Iwamura lined a single into center field.� With runners on the corners, CF Alex Presley (photo) slipped a single through the hole on the right side of the infield, scoring Melillo from third and putting Iwamura on second base.� The rally came to an abrupt halt, when RF Brandon Moss flied out to center field, and Iwamura was out at third as he tried to tag up after the catch, on a fine throw in from CF Casper Wells.� DH John Bowker struck out to end the inning.

That was it -- the rest of the game was two rows of donuts on the scoreboard.� The Indians clung to that one-run lead, as Jeremy Powell (photo below) and two relievers, Justin Thomas and Jean Machi, threw 9 shutout innings.� After the game, Powell admitted that he had not felt really comfortable on the mound and with how he was pitching early in the game, and the walks went along with that.� Powell threw 108 pitches, for strikes, but he threw key pitches when it counted.� He walked two batters in the 1st and one in the 2nd, but left them on base.� He walked 2B Scott Sizemore to begin the 3rd inning, but got 3B Justin Henry to bounce into a double play.

The Mud Hens' first hit of the game came in the 4th, when Casper Wells led off with a single into left field.� Moments later, C Jason Jaramillo threw out Wells as he tried to steal second base.� The other hit was a two-out double by SS Cale Iorg in the 5th.� Powell walked Sizemore again to put two Mud Hens on the bases, but then he got Henry to tap back to the mound for an easy third out.� Powell retired the Mud Hens in order in both the 6th and 7th innings, and he made it 8 straight batters retired when he got Iorg to fly out to center to begin the 8th.� Then he hit Sizemore (who walked 3 times in the game, so did not have an official at bat) with a pitch, and that was the end of Powell's night.� "I was happy with my last couple of innings, and all I can say is that I was able to go deep into the game and keep the one-run lead," said Powell after the game.

Toledo native Justin Thomas relieved Powell with one out and one on in the 8th.� He did walk LF Jeff Frazier, but got a strikeout on either side of the walk, to end the inning and keep the shutout going.� The southpaw Thomas came back out to begin the bottom of the 9th, to pitch to the first Toledo batter, left-handed hitting 1B Michael Bertram.� Bertram popped out to third base.� Then manager Frank Kremblas brought on the righty Jean Machi to face the next batter, right-handed hitting RF Ben Guez. Guez lifted a long long fly ball to right field, making the crowd gasp.� RF Brandon Moss went back and back, and with his own back against the right field wall, made the catch for the second out.� Switch-hitting DH Max Leon worked the count full, then took a high and outside pitch from Machi for a walk, but Machi needed only one pitch to get C Max St. Pierre to pop out to 2B Brian Friday in short center field to end the game.

Indianapolis Indians� 4,� Toledo MudHens� 1 (box)

Indians' starter Brad Lincoln (photo) had no problems with the Mud Hens tonight at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.� Lincoln beat the Mud Hens for the first time in his career, earning his 7th win of the season with the Indians.� After the game, Lincoln said that he felt great tonight.� "I was able to just get out there and pitch my game today... I felt that I could go out there and dominate."

Dominate is what Lincoln did.� He pitched 7 innings and allowed just one run on 6 hits and a walk.� He also struck out 6 batters.� It all took him 97 pitches, of which 72 were strikes.� Lincoln did not get a 3-strike count on any batter until the 6th inning, when he walked SS Scott Sizemore -- the only walk he allowed.� He also had a 2-ball count on only 2 batters, and a 3-ball count on one other batter after Sizemore.

The 7th inning was the only one in which Lincoln allowed more than one Mud Hen batter on base, and it was the only inning in which Toledo scored.� LF Jeff Frazier led off with a line drive single into left field.� RF Casper Wells followed with a double into center field, and Frazier was off and running.� He was rounding third as Wells was heading for second base, but he was not counting on Tribe CF Alex Presley and 2B Brian Friday. Presley got to the ball quickly in center field, and fired it in to relay man Friday in short center field.� Friday whirled and sent the ball on a rope to C Erik Kratz, who held on to the ball as Frazier barreled into him, even holding up the ball, still in his hand, as the dust settled.� Lincoln struck out the next batter, DH Ben Guez, but 1B Michael Bertram lined a single up the middle, and Wells scored from second base.

Lincoln allowed only 3 other hits, scattered over the first 6 innings.� Guez singled in both the 2nd and the 5th innings and was left on base both times.� Former Indy Indian C Robinzon Diaz singled in the 3rd inning, but he was doubled up when 3B Justin Henry flied out to center field.� Alex Presley had to run back to get to the ball, and Diaz must not have thought Presley had any chance at all to make the catch, so he took off.� When Presley made the back-handed catch and turned around, he saw that Diaz was not even close to first base.� It was an easy throw over to 1B Jonathan Van Every to double off Diaz.

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Syracuse Chiefs� 4,� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

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Like yesterday, the Indians had an early lead in this afternoon's game against the Syracuse Chiefs at Victory Field.� Like yesterday, the Chiefs' late inning rallies had them catching up and taking the lead.� But, unlike yesterday, today, the Indians could not stage a last-minute rally for the dramatic win.� Rehabbing right-hander Chris Jakubauskas (photo above) could not hold off the Chiefs, and he suffered the loss.

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Jeremy Powell (photo) made the start for the Indians, under yet another 90+ degree sunny sky.� For the first 6 innings, he was brilliant.� He retired the side in order in half of his innings.� He worked around a one-out single by C Wilson Ramos in the 2nd inning.� Ramos singled again with two outs in the 4th, but Powell ended the inning by inducing a pop out.� He also worked around a one-out double by opposing pitcher Jordan Zimmerman in the 3rd.� Zimmerman surprised almost everyone in the stadium by ripping a line drive to the 418' sign in left-center field.� For anyone else, that would have been an easy triple, but not wanting to overtax the pitcher, particularly in the heat,� Zimmerman started slowing down shortly after he rounded first base, and all but walked into second base, where he watched LF Kevin Melillo's throw come back to the infield.

Melillo got the Tribe out to a good start with a lead-off single in the bottom of the 1st, though he was left stranded.� The Indians had two runners on in the 2nd inning, when 1B John Bowker (photo, on right) lined a single into right field, and SS Pedro Ciriaco bunted to the left side of the mound, where Zimmerman could not find the handle on the ball to make a throw.� 2B Brian Friday popped up, and the infield fly rule was invoked.� That brought up Jeremy Powell with two outs, and he could only bounce a grounder to short, ending the inning with the two runners on base.

The first Indians' run came in the 3rd inning.� With one out, 3B Akinori Iwamura worked a walk.� Then CF Alex Presley worked his magic again, taking a long bouncer just barely fair down the right field line.� The carom off the wall in the right field corner fooled Syracuse RF Leonard Davis, and while Davis was busy chasing down the ball, Iwamura scored and Presley cruised into third base with a triple.� Indians up, 1-0.� The inning ended without further runs scoring.� RF Brandon Moss's oops-swing lifted a low, twisting flop of a fly right to Chiefs' 3B Pete Orr.� Presley had been taking a lead, and he could not get back to the bag in time, so was doubled off to end the inning.