Wild Pitch in the 13th Gives Indians Walk-Off Game Two Victory
May 30, 2009 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
INDIANAPOLIS. -- Second baseman Brian Bixler trotted home on a wild pitch by Red Sox reliever Fernando Cabrera in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Indianapolis Indians a 4-3 walk-off win over the Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday night at Victory Field.
With the win the Indians improve to 23-25 overall and 11-12 at home, while the loss drops the Red Sox to 25-23 on the season and 13-14 on the road. The victory moves Indianapolis to within one game of first place Columbus in the International League west division and gives them the early 2-0 season series edge over Pawtucket.
Bixler and CF Andrew McCutchen led off the 13th with back-to-back bases on balls, before being moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by LF Jeff Salazar. Then, after an intentional walk to RF Garrett Jones, the first pitch to 1B Steve Pearce hit the dirt and allowed Bixler to trot home to give the Tribe the victory.
The Tribe bullpen was beyond brilliant as relievers Jason Davis (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO), Corey Hamman (1.0 IP, 1 BB) and Steven Jackson (2.0 IP, 2 SO) combined for five hitless innings of work in regulation and relievers Denny Bautista (3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 SO) and Chris Bootcheck (1.0 IP, 1 SO) held down Pawtucket in extras. Bautista became just the second Indians' pitcher to strike out four batters in a row this season, while Bootcheck picked up the win to improve to 1-2 on the year.
Before the Indians late inning heroics, they battled back from a 3-0 deficit and were able to even the score with two runs off Pawtucket starter Clay Buchholz in the seventh and one more off Red Sox reliever Marcus Macbeth in the eighth.
Buchholz (6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO), who in his last start took a perfect game into the ninth inning, held the Tribe hitless for the first three innings, before McCutchen roped a single to center to lead off the fourth. The right hander, who also became the first Boston Red Sox to throw a no-hitter on Sept. 1, 2007, allowed just two runs over 6.2 innings, but did not figure in the final decision.
Tribe starter Virgil Vasquez (4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) fought through four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, but also did not figure in the final decision.
LF Jeff Salazar started the Tribe scoring with a bang, when he lead off the seventh inning with his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot that end Buchholz's 15 inning scoreless steak. Then, later in the frame, 1B Steve Pearce and 3B Neil Walker reached on a single and double, and C Erik Kratz brought the Indians to within one with an RBI groundout that plated Pearce.
DH Shelby Ford sparked the Tribe's eighth inning rally, when he led off the frame with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by 2B Brian Bixler and advanced to third on balk. The Indianapolis infielder then stole the show by stealing home and drawing the Tribe even with the Red Sox at three runs apiece.
DH Chris Carter plated the first of the Red Sox three runs in the third inning, when he drove in RF Mark Kotsay with an RBI double. Pawtucket then added two more tallies in the fourth on a solo home run by 2B Travis Denker and a sacrifice fly by Kotsay that plated SS Gil Velazquez, who reached on an earlier double.
Jones (2-for-5) and Pearce (2-for-4, 1 R) collected the only multi-hit games for the Tribe, while Carter (2-for-6, 1 RBI), Velazquez (2-for-5, 1 R) and Denker (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) all turned in multi-hit performances for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox bullpen also pitched quite well as LHP Hunter Jones (1.1, 1 H, 1 BB), RHP Rocky Cherry (0.2 IP, 1 SO) and LHP Javier Lopez (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) combined for 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. However, Cabrera would take the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season after melting down in the 13th with three walks (one intentional) and a wild pitch which allowed the game-winning run to score.
Indianapolis continues their four game series against the Red Sox with game three of the series to take place on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. RHP Eric Hacker is scheduled to make his Victory Field debut for Indianapolis, while LHP Kris Johnson is expected to get the nod for Pawtucket.
The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 1:40 p.m.
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