Tag: Tony Watson

Leading up to the Trade Deadline, the hope of many fans wanting to see the Pirates buying from just a few weeks ago had been replaced with sadness and despair due to the team’s recent swoon. Instead of hoping to pick up a piece or two at the deadline, now all fans could do was […]

Indianapolis Indians  1,  Buffalo Bison  0
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Four Indians pitchers combined to shut out the Bison at Coca Cola Park in Buffalo, NY -- the first time this season the Tribe has shut out their opponents.  The four horsemen held the Bison to just 5 hits, and that was one more hit than the Tribe batters managed.  After 7 scoreless innings, the Indians scored the only run of the game in the 8th.

The pitching duel began with Garrett Olson (photo) on the mound.  Brad Lincoln had been scheduled to make the start today, but muscle strain in his neck, present for a couple of days now, forced him to miss his start.  The possibility that today's game might have to be a bullpen game was part of the reason that manager Dean Treanor had Chris Leroux make another long (4 inning) relief appearance yesterday.  Olson, just off the Disabled List, was able to step in for the emergency start, though it was stated in advance that he would be on a limit of about 50 pitches.  Former Pirate DJ Carrasco made the start for Buffalo.  

Olson gave up just two hits, both doubles to Bison 1B Lucas Duda.  One double came in the 1st, with the line drive off the right field wall.  The second double, in the 4th, slipped past the diving 1B John Bowker.  The throw back in from RF Andrew Lambo nearly got Duda out at second, but it came in a little too far to the infield side of the second base bag.  Both times Duda was left standing on second.  Olson also walked 3B Michael Fisher in the 2nd inning, but erased him with a 6-4-3 (SS Chase d'Arnaud to 2B Shelby Ford to 1B Bowker) double play.  He struck out 3 Buffalo batters, and threw 45 pitches (29 strikes).  

The Indians also had three base runners in the early part of the game -- one in each of the first three innings -- but no hits.  LF Alex Presley was hit on the right foot by a pitch in the 1st inning.  C Eric Fryer walked with two outs in the 2nd and stole second base.  Ford reached on a fielding error by Buffalo 2B Luis Hernandez in the 3rd inning.  They too were all left on base.  

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.  

The Indians lost the suspended game, but won the regularly scheduled game.









Syracuse Chiefs  6,  Indianapolis Indians  4  (completion of suspended game)
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When we last left our heroes, trying to escape the pouring rain....
The Indians/Chiefs game was suspended after a 1 hour 44 minute wait last night.  Tribe starter Sean Gallagher had given up a run in the top of the 1st, then the Indians took the lead in the 3rd on a single by CF Gorkys Hernandez, a triple by SS Chase d'Arnaud, and an error by the Syracuse 2B Tug Hulett.  Syracuse tied the score in the top of the 6th on a solo homer by Hulett of reliever Chris Leroux.  The top of the 7th began with Leroux still on the mound.  He gave up a single and a sacrifice bunt, then was relieved by Justin Thomas.  With the rain pouring down and the ball wet and slippery, Thomas hit both LF Gregor Blanco and CF Corey Brown with pitches to load the bases.  Play was halted ...

The game restarted this afternoon at Victory Field, under overcast skies, with sprinkling rain that did not last long.  Cesar Valdez (photo) took the mound for the Indians, with two outs and the bases loaded.  1B Chris Marrero stepped to the plate, and rocketed a grand slam over the left field wall, to give Syracuse a 6-2 lead.  

The Tribe got two of the runs back in the bottom of the frame.  Andrew Lambo, who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Gallagher and remained in the game in right field, opened the inning with a double into right field.  After d'Arnaud struck out, 2B Brian Friday hit another double, just inside the first base bag and down the right field line, scoring Lambo.  John Bowker, who had taken over left field at the restart, flied out.  3B Andy Marte blooped an RBI single into left field, bringing Friday around from second base to score.  1B Matt Hague also singled, and pinch-hitter Shelby Ford walked on four pitches to load the bases, but C Eric Fryer struck out on a checked swing, to end the rally.  

Dan Meyer pitched the last two innings for the Indians.  He struck out the first two batters in the 8th, then gve up a single to SS Matt Antonelli, then retired the next 4 Chiefs in order.  

The Indians managed only one base runner over the last two innings -- Hernandez led off the bottom of the 8th with a double to the center field wall.  The remaining 6 Tribe batters went down in order, and the Chiefs had the win.

Starter Brian Burres threw 7 shutout innings, but got a no-decision.  











Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees  1,  Indianapolis Indians  0
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A pitching duel did not end up in the Indians favor today, as the S/W-B Yankees took a one-game lead in this 4-game series at Victory Field.  Tribe starter Brian Burres pitched an outstanding game, going 7 shutout innings, but left the game without any runs on the scoreboard, so he was not involved in the decision.  Yankees' starter DJ Mitchell also pitched 7 scoreless innings, but earned the win.  The game was scoreless until the starters were relieved in the 8th inning.  


Burres scattered 3 hits and 2 walks over his 7 innings, while striking out 5 Yankees.  He began his afternoon's work by retiring the first 6 batters he faced.  He gave up doubles to 2B Kevin Russo to lead off the 3rd, and to SS Ramiro Pena in the 6th, but left both of them on base.  Pena also singled in the 4th, dropping a liner into right-center field just out of the reach of CF Gorkys Hernandez.  Burres picked Pena off first, then 1B Matt Hague threw to SS Brian Friday, who tagged out Pena as he tried to steal second base (photo).   Burres walked 1B Jorge Vazquez in the 4th, but after Pena had been erased, and he walked LF Dan Brewer in the 5th.  Both of those runners were left on base, too.  Burres needed 98 pitches, with 58 hits, to get through his 7 innings.   

Shelby Ford gets the force out at second base, as Brian Friday backs him up.








Indianapolis Indians  8,  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees  5
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The Indianapolis Indians engineered another come-from-behind win tonight, to defeat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at Victory Field.  2B Shelby Ford (photo), who last played for the Indians in 2009, celebrated his return to AAA with 3 hits and started two big Tribe rallies.  LF John Bowker also contributed 3 hits and 3 RBI.  Reliever Tony Watson celebrated his 26th birthday with two scoreless innings of work, including 5 strikeouts.  

When starters Sean Gallager and Adam Warren squared off last week, Warren dominated the Indians and held the Tribe batters to just 3 hits in 8 innings.  Today, Gallagher and the Tribe turned the tables on Warren.

The Yankees began the game by taking advantage of an error in the top of the 1st.  With one out, Gallagher walked SS Ramiro Pena, then gave up a single up the middle to DH Jesus Montero.  1B Jorge Vazquez tapped a fast bouncer back to the mound, which Gallagher easily fielded.  He whirled and fired to Ford covering second base (photo above), for the force out on Montero.  Ford's relay on to first base, though, was airmailed and landed in the visitor's dugout.  Vazquez was awarded second base, and Pena, who had reached third base, was sent on home, for the Yankees' first run of the game.  The run would have been unearned, but while pitching to CF Justin Maxwell, Gallagher threw a wild pitch.  If the throwing error had not been made, Pena would have been on third base, and would have scored on the wild pitch, which changed to run from "unearned" to "earned".  Maxwell popped out to Ford to end the inning.  

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.  

Indianapolis Indians  4,  Pawtucket Red Sox  3
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The Indianapolis Indians posted 10 hits, all singles, to beat a former Indian on the mound for the Red Sox, at McCoy Field in Pawtucket, Rhode Island tonight.  Brandon Duckworth, who pitched for the Tribe in 2006 and earned an 8-3 record and a 2.42 ERA in 12 starts, could not get through the 5th inning tonight, as his former team handed him his 3rd loss of the season.  Indians' starter Rudy Owens (photo) earned his 4th win, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 5 hits.

Both starters pitched three scoreless innings to being their outings.  Owens retired the side in order in the 1st inning, then gave up lone singles, to LF Daniel Nava in the 2nd, and CF Che-Hsuan Lin in the 3rd.  Duckworth also retired the Indians in order in the 1st inning.  1B Matt Hague singled through the hole and into right field in the 2nd inning.  In the top of the 3rd, with two outs, 2B Josh Harrison walked, and CF Gorkys Hernandez singled up the middle, moving Harrison to second base.  The two runners both stole the next base, to give the Indians two runners in scoring position, but a ground out by LF Alex Presley ended the inning.  

Both teams scored one run in the 4th inning, and for both, the run was driven in by a sacrifice fly.  RF John Bowker led off the Tribe's top of the 4th with a walk.  Hague smacked his second single of the game, and DH Jason Jaramillo was hit on the chest below his arm to load the bases with one out.  C Dusty Brown, who had spent parts of the last 5 seasons playing for the PawSox, drove in the first Indians' run with a sacrifice fly.  In the bottom of the frame, Owens walked DH Hector Luna to begin the inning.  Luna advanced to second base on a ground out, then moved to third on a single by LF Daniel Nava, who slipped a grounder into center field, just past the diving reach of SS Brian Friday.  2B Tony Thomas brought in Luna with his sacrifice fly.  

Just for something different to do..... live blogging this afternoon's game between the Indy Indians and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees:

Top of the 1st: 
SS Chase d'Arnaud fouls off the first pitch, then takes the second pitch into right field, where the S/W-B RF Dan Brewer slipped on the wet grass.  D'Arnaud in for a single.
2B Josh Harrison bounces a double into left field, moving d'Arnaud to third.
LF Alex Presley lines a single into RF, and d'Arnaud scores.  It's Presley's 56th hit of the season, leading the International League.

And now some poor baserunning.  RF John Bowker bounces back to the mound, and Harrison hesitates, then is caught in a run-down on the third base line.  He drags it out for a moment, but is eventually tagged out  (1-2-5-2)-- then Presley is also caught off second base and trapped in a run-down between second and third (2-4).  Ugh!  
1B Matt Hague is out on a nice diving stop by 3B Kevin Russo.  Indians get one run, but they ran themselves out of getting at least one more.   

Bottom of the 1st:
Justin Wilson (photo) is on the mound for the Indians.   The rest of the defense is the same as yesterday, with the exception of Dusty Brown doing the catching instead of Jason Jaramillo.  
CF Austin Krum strikes out
SS Ramiro Pena doubles into left field
Wilson strikes out DH Jesus Montero, one of the big hitters for S/W-B.
LF Justin Maxwell, the other big hitter for the Yankees, doubles into left field, scoring Pena from second base.  Score tied 1-1. 
Brandon Laird bounces off the mound to 2B Harrison to end the inning.  

Top of the 2nd: 
3B Andy Marte walks, but Brown bounces into a double play, 4-6-3.
DH Andrew Lambo strikes out, an easy inning for Yankees' starter Andrew Brackman.


Bottom of the 2nd: 
3B Kevin Russo -- nice fielding at third by Marte, for a 5-3 out.
RF Dan Brewer --  grounds into the hole.  D'Arnaud kept the ball from going into left field, but he was so deep that he was already on the outfield grass, and he didn't have a play.  

Good thing they're playing in Pennsylvania, because here in Indy we're having the second thunderstorm of the day.  It's 71 degrees at the park in PA.

2B Luis Nunez -- the Indians are shifted way to the left field side, with a huge hole on the right side of the infield -- and sure enough, Nunez grounds right through that huge open space and into right field for a single.  Brewer to third base.
C Gustavo Molino -- long drive into right center, a bounce off the wall for a 2-RBI double.  Brewer scores easily from third and Nunez races around to score from first.  3-1.
Oh wow!  An appeal play, with Krum at the plate, Justin Wilson throws to third base, where an out is called!  One of those runs does not count!  It's Nunez who was called out, and with no argument from the Yankees.  So, the score is back to 2-1, and the Indians have been given a gift.
And Krum strikes out to end the inning.  

Trainer Brian Housand and Pitching Coach Tom Filer conference with pitcher Dan Meyer and catcher Dusty Brown, with plate umpire Mark Lollo listening in.





Buffalo Bison  5,  Indianapolis Indians  1
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After two days of being pounded by the Indians, the Buffalo Bison got their revenge this afternoon at Victory Field, as the Bison posted 12 hits in their win.  The Indians were held to just 5 scattered hits by the Buffalo pitching staff.  Buffalo starter Brian Sweeney earned his first win of the season and allowed the Indians only one run.

Sean Gallagher (photo) made the start for the Indians.  The plan had been to move Gallagher from the starting rotation to the bullpen, and he did make a relief appearance last week, coming in to take over for Garrett Olson, who had been injured.  But now, with Olson going onto the Disabled List, Gallagher has been moved back to the starting rotation.  The Bison jumped right on Gallagher in the top of the 1st inning.  After getting the first batter, former Indy Indian SS Luis Figueroa to pop up for the first out, Gallagher gave up a single to 2B Michael Fisher and a bunt single to C Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  1B Valentino Pascucci followed with a hard liner along the left field line for a double, driving in both Fisher and Nieuwenhuis for a 2-0 lead.  Gallagher left Pascucci on second base, ending the inning with a pop out and a ground out.  

Gallagher set the Bison down in order in the 2nd inning, but the Bison scored again in the 3rd.  Figueroa led off with another double down the left field line, similar to Pascucci's.  Fisher singled up the middle, and the speedy Figueroa scored from second base.  C Dusty Brown threw out Fisher as he tried to steal second base.  The next three Bison batters all reached base safely --  a grounder through the hole into left field by Nieuwenhuis, a 4-pitch walk to Pascucci, and C Mike Nickeas hit on the left wrist or forearm by a pitch.  Nickeas took his time moving down to first base, but was not able to stay in the game.  He was replaced by pinch-runner/catcher (another former Indy Indian) Raul Chavez.  That loaded the bases with one out for the Bison.  Gallagher got out of the jam by getting LF Jesus Feliciano to bounced into a double play, 2B Chase d'Arnaud to SS Pedro Ciriaco, to 1B John Bowker.