IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Canzler & Company Lead Clippers by Tribe 5-3

Published on August 26, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS --First baseman Russ Canzler fell just a triple short of the cycle going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while starter T.J. McFarland held the Tribe scoreless over the first five frames and went on to scatter eight hits over 6.2 solid innings to help the Columbus Clippers hold off the Indianapolis Indians 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

Columbus jumped out to a quick advantage with a single score in the top of the first as 3B Gregorio Petit roped a one-out single to left, moved to second on a walk by 2B Cord Phelps and came plateward on a base knock by Canzler. The Clippers then extended their lead with another tally in the top of the third as RF Anthony Gallas led off the frame with his first career Triple-A hit, moved to third on base knock by CF Tim Fedroff and sped home on a sacrifice fly by Petit.

Canzler and LF Vinny Rottino then teamed up to push the Clippers lead to 3-0 as they led off the top of the sixth with back-to-back doubles with Rottino's two-bagger bringing home Canzler. DH Jared Goedert would later reach on a Tribe fielding error that allowed Rottino to cross the plate and extend the Columbus advantage to 4-0.

McFarland (6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO), who earned the victory to improve to 7-6 on the season, got off to a fantastic start by holding the Indians scoreless over the first five frames. However, the Tribe would get to McFarland with three scores in bottom of the sixth to cut Columbus advantage to 4-3.

SS Chase d'Arnaud led off the sixth-frame outburst with a solo blast off the left-field foul pole for his sixth home run of the season. With the longball, d'Arnaud extended his hitting streak to seven straight games during which he is batting .400 (12-for-30) with eight runs, a double, three home runs and five RBI.

CF Alex Presley and 1B Matt Hague then continued the rally with back-to-back one-out base hits to set the stage for last night's hero, DH Dallas McPherson, who came through with a run-scoring single. A Clipper's misplay on McPherson's RBI base hit would allow the third run of the frame to cross and draw the Indians within one at 4-3.

Canzler, however, would provide an insurance score with one swing of the bat as he launched a solo long ball with one out in the eighth to push the Clippers's lead back to two. The roundtripper was Canzler's team-leading 21st of the season and fourth against the Indians.

Tribe starter Rick VandenHurk (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) turned in another solid outing but lasted just five innings, over which he allowed two runs on five hits and ultimately suffered the loss to fall to 12-5.

Following VandenHurk, Tribe relievers Bryan Morris (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER) and Justin Wilson (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO) would each surrender scores in their relief outings. LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (1.0 IP) was a bright spot out of the Indianapolis bullpen tossing a perfect top of the ninth.

Reliever Matt Langwell (1.1 IP, 1 SO) turned in a 1.1 innings of scoreless work out of the Columbus bullpen to earn his second hold of the season before Dan Wheeler (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) worked around a two-out base knock to notch his third save.

The Indians (82-54) and Clippers (69-67) will now wrap up their season series with a 7:05 p.m. contest on Monday night at Victory Field. Indianapolis is expected to send RHP Chris Leroux (3-0, 2.84) to the mound, while Columbus is scheduled to counter with LHP Matt Packer (0-3, 5.24 ERA)

The contest will be televised on HTSN (Hometown Sports and News), available via cable or over-the-air on digital channel 6.2. The game will also be carried on WNDE 1260 AM-WFBQ-HD2, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with Howard Kellman and Will Flemming on the call. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes --SS Chase d'Arnaud

(On his recent hot streak) "I feel like I'm playing how I should have been playing all season, honestly. I'm starting to feel like myself again at the plate. I'm able to hit the pitches I want to hit, whereas before, I was working counts and just missing, because I had a huge mechanical flaw and now, I've cleaned some stuff up and now I'm becoming more approach-oriented, which is helping out in numerous ways."

(On his sixth-inning home run, which he hit on a 3-1 pitch) "He threw me a fastball middle-in, and that's what I was looking for, something over the meat of the plate, a fastball. Luckily, I just hit the right part of the ball. Anytime you're 3-1, 2-0, it's kind of the same approach. You're just looking for the meat of the plate."

(On starting pitcher Rick Vandenhurk's importance to the team) "He's been an integral part of this team all year. He comes out, does his job and gives us a chance to win every time."

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