Tag: Justin Wilson

Louisville Batts  5,  Indianapolis Indians   2
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The Indianapolis Indians and Louisville Bats played 6.5 scoreless innings at Louisville Slugger Field, before each team scored in its last two at-bats.  The Bats' first rally was sparked by their winning pitcher Daryl Thompson, and the second rally, in the bottom of the 8th, was aided by 3 Indians' errors.  The Tribe was not able to catch up, and the Bats took the first game of this 4-game away-and-home series.  

Justin Wilson (photo) made the start for the Indians, coming off a tough start last Saturday in Toledo.  He got through the first two innings rather quickly, allowing just one hit, a double by Bats' 1B Todd Frazier in the 2nd.  Wilson worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the 3rd.  3B Michael Griffin reached base when his Tribe counterpart 3B Pedro Alvarez bobbled his grounder for an error.  After two outs, 2B Chris Valaika grounded to short, where SS Jordy Mercer also had trouble with bobbles on the scoop.  Valaika reached base ahead of Mercer's throw, and the play was ruled a single.  LF Yonder Alonso walked to load the bases.  Wilson bore down and got C Devin Mesoraco to fly out to RF Anthony Norman, to escape the inning without a run scoring.   

Wilson worked around a single by Frazier in the 4th inning, then got into another jam in the 5th.  He walked the opposing pitcher Thompson, and hit Valaika with a pitch.  With two outs, Mesoraco hit a screaming liner right back at Wilson.  The ball hit Wilson's glove and dropped, but Wilson was so surprised that it took him a moment to realize that the ball had been stopped and had not sailed into the outfield.  Then he looked up, thinking that maybe the ball was still in the air, then finally looked down -- and still took a moment to realize that the ball was at his feet.  Mesoraco was safe on first, and the bases were loaded, but Wilson had kept the ball from going into the outfield and allowing at least 2 runs to score.  He ended the inning with a ground out by RF Jeremy Hermida, leaving the bases full of Bats for the second time in the game.  

That was all for Wilson, on a hot and humid night.  He had thrown 97 pitches (57 strikes), and thrown 5 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks, with 5 strikeouts.  Wilson was relieved by former Bat (just a couple of weeks ago) Steven Jackson, who retired his old teammates in order in the 6th.  

Indianapolis Indians  4,  Toledo Mud Hens  3
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After 5 scoreless innings with a tie score, the Indians pushed across a run in the top of the 12th, then held on for the win over the Mud Hens at Fifth-Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.    

With two outs in the top of the 12th, 2B/3B Brian Friday worked a walk.  LF John Bowker (photo) lashed a double into the right-center field alley, over the head of Toledo RF Ben Guez, and off the wall.  Friday was off and running with the pitch, and he rounded third and headed for the plate as Guez chased down the ball.  He crossed the plate well ahead of the throw, scoring the go-ahead run for the Indians.  

The Mud Hens jumped right on Tribe starter Justin Wilson in the bottom of the 1st inning.  Lead-off batter DH Will Rhymes with a single, and LF Timo Perez doubled, putting runners on the corners.  Rhymes scored on an RBI single into right field by rehabbing 2B Carlos Guillen, and Perez came in on an RBI single by 1B Ryan Strieby, for a 2-0 lead.  Strieby stole second base and 3B Danny Worth walked.  Wilson got out of the inning when he struck out RF Scott Thorman, and C Kris Watts fired down to third base, throwing out Strieby trying to steal third.  SS Cale Iorg added a run in the 2nd inning on a solo homer, giving the Mud Hens a 3-0 lead.  

Wilson went on to pitch 4 more innings, scattering 3 more singles (by Rhymes, Iorg, and Strieby) and two walks (Guillen and Strieby), but he did not allow another run.  He threw 91 pitches, with 52 strikes.  

Pawtucket Red Sox  4,  Indianapolis Indians 1
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The Indianapolis Indians came away with a series split against Pawtucket, giving them a 5-3 win of the season series with the Red Sox.  The Indians out-hit the PawSox 9-4 at Victory Field tonight, but Pawtucket made their runs count and left town with the win.

Equally as big for the Tribe: the flurry of roster moves that affected the Indians today.  The Pirates optioned SS Pedro Ciriaco to the Indians, in order to make room for the move that has been eagerly anticipated by Tribe fans -- OF Alex Presley (photo) was promoted to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates had a scheduled day off today, but Presley will join the team tomorrow in Toronto.  He may make appearances as a pinch-hitter in the intraleague games, or he might also play some outfield since Jose Tabata has been injured.

Tribe C Wyatt Toregas, who left yesterday's game due to injury, was placed on the Indians' Disabled List today, yet another catcher in the Pirates' organization to be sidelined.  The Pirates do not feel that catchers Tony Sanchez and Travis Scott are ready for moving up to AAA.  They sought help from outside the organizaton :  former Indy Indian and Altoona Curve catcher Miguel Perez is once again an Indian.  Perez played in the Pirates' organization during the 2008 and 2009 season.  He hit .281 for the Curve in 57 games in 2008, with 2 homers and 22 RBI, and in 30 games for the Curve in 2009, Perez hit .262 with another 2 homers and 12 RBI.  Perez got into just 7 games for the Indians in 2009, and hit .182.

And, last but not least, pitcher Mike Crotta finished his rehab assignment, and was reinstated of the Pirates' Disabled List.  He was immediately optioned to Indianapolis.  In order to make space on the roster, pitcher Brad Lincoln was moved to the Altoona roster.  This was a paper move only.  Lincoln is in a holding pattern, expected to be called up to pitch for the Pirates when they have a double header on Saturday.  And, Lincoln was right here tonight, coaching at first base (photo).  


OK, on to the game:

Justin Wilson made his 15th start for the Tribe, in search of his 10th win of the season.  He was foiled, though by two tough innings.  After retiring the first four PawSox he faced, Wilson walked 1B Hector Luna in the 2nd.  The next batter, 2B Nate Spears, with his own private cheering section from Anderson, Indiana in the stands, smashed a long fly ball over the right field wall for a 2-run homer.  

Wilson struck out the next two batters to finish the inning, then retired the side in order again in the 3rd.  The 4th inning began with Wilson hitting DH Lars Anderson with a pitch.  Luna grounded to short, where SS Brian Friday made the scoop and the toss to 2B Josh Harrison.  But with Anderson barrelling down on him and an off-balance toss, Harrison made the out at second, but dropped the ball as he went to transfer, and they could not get the double play they'd hoped for.  Spears flied out to center field, but 3B Brent Dlugach hit a single to behind second base, moving Luna to third.  Wilson walked SS Jose Iglesias to load the bases with two outs.  LF Matt Sheely took advantage of the loaded bases and lined a single into left field, scoring both Luna and Dlugach, to give the PawSox 4 runs.

Indianapolis Indians 10,  Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs  5
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The newest Indian, Josh Rodriguez, went 3-for-3 with 4 RBI as the Indianapolis Indians overcame a 4-0 deficit to beat the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA tonight.  The Indians posted 15 hits, while the Iron Pigs put up 14 hits; the Tribe also worked 8 walks.  SS Brian Friday also had 3 hits for the Indians, as all but one of the starting lineup had at least one hit.  The Tribe pitchers combined to strikeout 14 Iron Pigs' batters.


Once again, several former Indy Indians were on the field for Lehigh Valley:  CF Rich Thompson (2005-06), LF Brandon Moss (2010), 1B Tagg Bozied (2009).


Starter Rudy Owens (photo), who has been having trouble getting through the first inning in many of his starts this season, had problems again tonight.   Rich Thompson led off with a line drive off 1B Matt Hague's glove and into short right field for a single.  As usual for the speedy Thompson, he stole second base.  SS Pete Orr moved Thompson to third base with a single tapped back to the mound and deflected by Owens.  RF John Mayberry brought in both Thompson and Orr with a 3-run homer.  Owens got Brandon Moss to pop out, but Tagg Bozied blasted a no-doubt-about-it homer over the left field wall and well past the bullpen, for a 4-0 lead.  Owens also gave up a double to 2B Josh Barfield after the homer, but a fly out and a strike out ended the inning.  

The Tribe put runners on base in each of the first three innings, though none of them came around to score.  Chase d'Arnaud, who was on third base again tonight, led off the top of the 1st for the Indians by reaching first when SS Orr made a high throw to first base, bouncing it off the screen in front of the Indians' bullpen.  Friday singled, moving d'Arnaud to second, and a fly out by LF Alex Presley moved d'Arnaud to third.  But RF John Bowker bounced into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning, keeping d'Arnaud from scoring.  

The Indians threatened again in the 2nd inning, when Hague lined a ball off the Iron Pigs' 3B Cody Overbeck's glove and into left field.  With one out, new Indian 2B Josh Rodriguez grounded to short, where SS Orr made the scoop then fumbled the ball a bit, and Rodriguez was credited with his first Indians' hit.  A grounder by CF Gorkys Hernandez forced out Rodriguez at second, but left runners on the corners with two outs.  They got no further that time either, as Owens struck out to end the inning.  Presley singled in the 3rd inning, but was left on base.

Indianapolis Indians  7,  Rochester Red Wings  5   (Game 1)
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A 4-run 6th inning gave the Indians the edge this afternoon at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY, despite being out-hit 13-9.  SS Chase d'Arnaud led the Tribe with 3 hits and 2 RBI, and LF Alex Presley and 3B Andy Marte had 2 hits apiece.

Both teams got their scoring started early with 2 runs in the 1st inning.  With former Indy Indian (2009) Eric Hacker making the start for Rochester, d'Arnaud began with a strikeout, then 2B Corey Wimberly was hit by a pitch.  Presley walked, and when Hacker pick-off attempt went wild, both runners moved into scoring position on the error.  RF John Bowker's grounder let the Rochester third baseman fire back to the plate, where Wimberly was tagged out.  With Bowker still on first base, Marte lined a double into left field, scoring both Presley and Bowker for the early 2-0 lead. 

The Red Wings came right back in the bottom of the inning.  The first batter Brian Burres faced, CF Dustin Martin, doubled into right field, and the next batter, SS Trevor Plouffe, smacked a 2-run homer to tie the score.  

Marte doubled again in to lead off the top of the 4th, and when the Wings' right fielder misplayed the ball, Marte advanced to third.  A sacrifice fly by 1B Matt Hague plated Marte, to give the Indians a 3-2 lead.  

Burres had a tough second inning to work through.  The lead off batter, 3B Chase Lambin, led off with a single, but was picked off first and caught stealing.  After a ground out, a walk, a single by Martin, and another walk loaded the bases.  Burres got out of the jam with a ground out, leaving the bases full.  Burres also got lucky in the 4th, when another single by Lambin and a double by C Steve Holm had Lambin rounding third and heading for the plate.  Presley made the play on the double in left field, then his throw in was relayed by d'Arnaud, who fired on to C Wyatt Toregas for the tag out of Lambin at the plate.   

Kris Watts' first AAA hit is a triple, as he slides in ahead of the tag.  













Indianapolis Indians  4,  Gwinnett Braves  3
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The Indianapolis Indians took a step above the .500 level today, with a win over the Gwinnett Braves this afternoon at Victory Field.  Starter Justin Wilson made his 13th start of the season and earned his 8th win, but had to work around a lot of base runners to do it.  3B Andy Marte, just back in the line-up after a hamstring injury, went 3-for-3 at the plate, and sparked the Tribe's key rally in the 6th inning.

The Indians jumped out to an early lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st.  With two outs, CF Alex Presley (photo), who leads the International League in hits, got hit #83 on a line drive into short center field.  He stole second base, then a walk to LF John Bowker gave the Indians runners on first and second bases.  1B Matt Hague grounded to short, where Braves' SS Julio Lugo could not get the ball out of his glove fast enough to throw anyone out.  That loaded the bases for Marte, who took a 3-1 pitch into right field for a single.  Presley and Bowker scored easily, and as RF Stefan Gartrell made the throw in to the plate, Hague also rounded third and was sent home.  Hague slid in to the plate, but by then C Wilkin Castillo had the ball and was planted in front of the plate -- Hague was tagged out at home to end the inning.  Indians up, 2-0.  

With one out in the 2nd inning, the newest member of the Tribe, C Kris Watts, who made his first AAA start today, also picked up his first AAA hit -- a triple into right field.  Gartrell made a dive for the ball, but missed, and the ball bounced all the way to the right field wall, as Watts raced around second and slid into third base (photo above).  A walk to SS Chase d'Arnaud gave the Indians runners on the corners, but a ground out at second base ended the inning.  The Tribe had only one hit over the next two innings, and that was Marte's second hit of the game, a double to center field to lead off the bottom of the 4th.  Braves' CF Jose Constanza ran all the way back to the wall, where he made a leap for a catch.  But the catch threw him into the outfield wall, and that jarred the ball out of his glove.  The umpires ruled that it was not a catch, and Marte reached second base.  He was stranded there, though, as Braves' starter Erik Cordier retired the next three batters on fly outs.  

Indianapolis Indians 12,  Buffalo Bison  6
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The Indians and the Bison held a hit-fest at Coca-Cola Park in Buffalo, NY tonight, with the two teams combining for 30 hits (16 for the Indians and 14 for the Bison).  The Tribe made the better use of their hits, though, and with three 3-run innings, the Tribe came out on top.  SS Chase d'Arnaud went 4-for-5 with a homer and 5 RBI, and RF Miles Durham went 3-for-4 with an RBI.  Rudy Owens (photo) earned his 6th win of the season, with 3 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.  

The Tribe got onto the scoreboard first, with 3 runs in the top of the 2nd innning.  With one out, C Eric Fryer walked, then after a second out, Owens also walked.  That brought up d'Arnaud, who rocketed a rising line drive over the right-center field wall to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.

Owens got through the first inning allowing only a double by 1B Valentino Pascucci.  He gave the Bison back a run in the 2nd inning.  A single by 3B Zach Lutz, a walk to LF Jason Botts, and a single by C Mike Nickeas loaded the bases.  CF Jesus Feliciano brought in Lutz with a sacrifice fly, to cut the Indians' lead to 3-1.  A sacrifice bunt by Buffalo starter Mark Cohoon was fielded by Owens, but the throw to first pulled 2B Brian Friday, who was covering, off the bag.  Cohoon was credited with a sacrifice, and Owens was charged with an error.  But with the bases loaded again, Owens got 2B Michael Fisher to fly out to left field.  LF Alex Presley made the catch, then fired the ball in to the plate, where Fryer made the catch and held on to tag out Botts as he tried to tag up and score.  The outfield assist saved at least one run, and possibly more, if the inning had continued.  Durham also made an outfield assist in the 3rd inning.  SS Luis Hernandez walked, then Pascucci lined into right field.  Hernandez tried to go from first to third on the play, but Durham fired in to third base, where 3B Matt Hague mad the tag out.  

Indianapolis Indians 13,  Buffalo Bison  4
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The Indianapolis Indians exploded for two big innings, as they stampeded the Buffalo Bison at Coca-Cola Park in Buffalo, NY tonight.  The Tribe took advantage of 3 physical errors, plus several mental errors by the Bison, and scored their 13 runs on only 10 hits, leaving only 2 runners on base.  

Buffalo starter Josh Stinson faced the Indians on May 17th here in Indianapolis, and he did not have a good outing.  He allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning, one in the 3rd, and 3 more in the 5th inning, as the Indians won the game 10-1, posting 16 hits.  In that game, Stinson lasted 4.2 innings before being relieved.  

Tonight, the Indians were even less kind to Stinson.  He got through the 1st inning unscathed, allowing a single up the middle by SS Chase d'Arnaud, then removed d'Arnaud from the bases with a double play.  It was in the 2nd inning that the wheels fell off for Stinson.  1B John Bowker began the fun with a double through into right field.  3B Matt Hague reached base safely when 1B Valentino Pascucci could not handle a low throw to first base, and Bowker moved to third base.  RF Andrew Lambo bounced to Pascucci, who wanted to throw to the plate, but Pascucci hesitated and got himself set before making the throw.  The hesitation was just enough to let Bowker slide into the plate ahead of the throw, for the Indians' first run.  That left Hague and Lambo on base, and brought up C Eric Fryer.  Fryer (photo) made it a 4-0 game when he took the first pitch he saw over the left field wall on a no-doubt-about-it 3-run homer.  

CF Gorkys Hernandez followed the homer with a smash off the wall in the right-center gap, and raced all the way to third base, credited with a triple, when the Bison CF Fernando Martinez had trouble hitting his cut-off man on the throw in.  Tribe starter Justin Wilson hit his second RBI double of the season into left field, scoring Hernandez easily.  A wild pitch put Wilson on third base, and a walk to d'Arnaud gave the Indians runners on the corners.  D'Arnaud stole second base on strike three when 2B Brian Friday struck out.  LF Alex Presley walked to load the bases.  That brought up Bowker again, and Bowker's second double of the inning, going into the left-center field gap, cleared the bases to give the Indians an 8-0 lead.  That sent Stinson to the showers.  Reliever Brian Sweeney got Hague to pop out, then former Indy Indian C Raul Chavez picked Bowker off second base to end the inning.  

Alex Presley is congratulated after one of his two home runs.  











Indianapolis Indians  13, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees  2
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The Indianapolis Indians exploded for 13 runs on 15 hits to defeat the Yankees at Victory Field tonight, earning a split of both the 4-game series and the 8-game season series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  LF Alex Presley blasted a pair of 3-run home runs to lead the offense, as each member of the line-up collected at least one hit, and all but one scored at least one run.  

Both starting pitchers began their evening with struggles in the first inning.  For Tribe starter Justin Wilson (photo), the game started with a triple off the bat of Yankees' 2B Kevin Russo.  Russo's lined into right field, where RF Miles Durham raced in and made a feet-first slide, but missed the ball.  By the time, Durham got up and chased the ball down, Russo was gliding into third base.  SS Ramiro Pena dropped down a safety squeeze bunt, with Wilson scrambling off the mound to make the scoop and throw right back to C Eric Fryer as Russo came from third.  Fryer blocked the plate, but he dropped the ball, and Russo was safe.  It was first ruled a sacrifice bunt and a fielders' choice -- but then the ruling was changed to a missed catch error on Fryer, with no RBI for Pena.  

With a runner still on first base, Wilson got C Jesus Montero to fly out and struck out 3B Jorge Vazquez.  A wild pitch moved Pena to second base, then he scored on 1B Brandon Laird's single, lined over SS Chase d'Arnaud's head and into left field.  Both runs were unearned, but the Yankees had a 2-0 lead.  

But Yankees' starter Andrew Brackman was having his own troubles.  His pitches were going everywhere, with no apparent control on his part.  He walked lead-off batter d'Arnaud, with d'Arnaud ducking out of the way as one pitch came in a little too close to his head, and ball four going crazy wild all the way to the backstop.  Another crazy wild pitch to 2B Brian Friday let d'Arnaud advance to second base.  Brackman settled down enough to get Friday to fly out, then retired Presley on a high bouncer back to the mound, and struck out 1B John Bowker.  When Brackman came out for the second inning, his command was even worse -- reminiscent of the "Wild Thing" character in the movie "Major League".  Brackman walked both 3B Andy Marte and DH Matt Hague, with pitches going everywhere.  After three more balls for a 3-1 count on Fryer, Brackman threw another wild one that hit Fryer on his helmet, then bounced off the helmet and into the stands behind the visitors' dugout.  That was the last pitch for Brackman, who was quickly yanked.

Reliever Ryan Pope came on for the Yankees, with the bases full and no outs.  RF Miles Durham cleared the bases on Pope's first pitch, with a ringing double to the base of the wall in right-center field, and the Indians took a 3-2 lead as Marte, Hague, and Fryer all scored (photo).  Pope also gave up a single to CF Gorkys Hernandez and walked Friday before ending the inning on two fly outs.  

Wilson was able to relax after that first inning.  He gave up a two-out single to CF Austin Krum in the 2nd inning, but struck out Russo to end the inning.  He loaded the bases in the 3rd inning with singles by Montero and RF Jordan Parraz and a walk to Vazquez.  But with two outs and the bases loaded, Wilson reached deep, and fired two pitches at 92-93 mph to strike out LF Dan Brewer and end the inning.  Wilson went on to pitch 3 more innings, without allowing another hit.  He walked two batters in the 5th, but erased one base runner with an around-the-horn double play (Marte to Friday to Bowker, 5-4-3).  Alex Presley made the final out of the inning with a spectacular leaping catch of Laird's fly ball to deep left field, snatching the ball at the top of the left field scoreboard.  

Indianapolis Indians 9,  Pawtucket Red Sox  7
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3B Josh Harrison (photo) went 5-for-5 at the plate to lead the Indians in a come-from-behind win over the Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island tonight.  Harrison smacked two singles and three doubles, and contributed 2 RBI, as the the Indians scored 9 unanswered runs after trailing the PawSox 7-0.

Justin Wilson made the start for the Indians, but he lasted only two innings.  He was responsible for all 7 of Pawtucket's runs (6 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks, with no strikeouts.  Home runs were the beginning of the end for Wilson, who gave up 3 in his briefest start of the season.  

With two outs in the bottom of the 1st, Wilson gave up the first homer, a solo blast by DH Hector Luna.  The trouble really got going in the 2nd, when the first four batters reached base safely.  C Michael McKenry led off with another solo home run.  2B Tory Thomas singled, then  3B Brent Dlugach made the score 4-0 with a 2-run homer.  SS Jose Iglesias singled, and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by RF Matt Sheely.  Then Wilson walked three consecutive batters --  CF Che-Hsuan Lin on four pitches, LF Daniel Nava on a 3-2 count, and Luna on a 3-1 count.  Luna's walk forced in Iglesias.  A grounder to 1B Matt Hague might have been an inning-ending double play, and Luna was forced out at second, but Harrison's throw back to first was wild, allowing 1B Lars Anderson to reach first safely, and allowing Nava to score from third base.  The inning finally ended with a ground out by McKenry, but the PawSox had a 6-run inning, and led the Tribe 7-1.