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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Clippers Beat Indians 11-5

July 8, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus catcher Luke Carlin's fifth-inning grand slam provided the punctuation for the Clippers on Sunday afternoon as they rode an offensive explosion to an 11-5 win over the Indianapolis Indians at Huntington Park.

The Clippers only had nine hits in the ballgame, but rode a pair of Indianapolis errors and eight walks to score 11 runs a day after suffering a 10-5 defeat at the hands of the Indians. Four of those runs came on one swing of the bat as Carlin launched a bases-loaded homer, just his third long ball of the season, over the right-field wall.

The grand slam came three batters after 3B Russ Canzler put Columbus ahead for good with a single to center that scored 2B Cord Phelps and broke a 2-2 tie. Canzler, 1B Vinny Rotino and LF Tim Fedroff scored on the grand slam, along with Carlin, putting Columbus up 7-2.

The Indians had battled back from a 2-0 deficit after Columbus got lone runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Rottino reached on a fielding error with two outs, allowing CF Ezequiel Carrera to score on the play. Then, in the second inning, Carrera hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored DH Chad Huffman.

Indianapolis tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, DH Jeff Clement launched his 13th home run of the season, cutting the Columbus lead to 2-1. RF Brandon Boggs followed with a double to left, his 14th of the season, before scoring the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly by C Jose Morales.

After Columbus had surged to a big lead with its five-run fifth, Indianapolis got one run back in the top of the sixth inning when Clement led off with a single and advanced to third on Bogg's second double of the day and 15th of the year.

Clement then scored when 2B Anderson Hernandez hit an infield single, pulling the Indians within 7-3, but the Clippers exploded for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach. Canzler drove in the first run with a double, and then scored -- along with Rottino -- on Huffman's double to center field.

Columbus got one final run in the bottom of the seventh when Carrera scored on a fielders choice, putting the Clippers up 11-3. Indianapolis scored two final runs in a short-lived, eighth-inning rally when Hernandez hit his first home run of the season, also driving in CF Starling Marte, but the Indians could not overcome their division rivals.

Indianapolis starter Rick VandenHurk (5.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HR) took his first loss of the season, falling to 8-1. A bright spot for the Tribe, RHP Tim Wood (1.0 IP) tossed a perfect eighth inning to becoming the only Indians pitcher to not allow neither a run nor hit in the ballgame. For Columbus, starter David Huff (7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR) worked around eight hits to earn his fourth win of the season.

Despite the loss, the Indians head into the three-day all-star break with a 56-34 record, the best in the International League. The Tribe also owns an 11-game lead over the Clippers in the IL West.

Following the all-star break, Indianapolis and Columbus (45-45) will return to action with a doubleheader on Thursday, July 12, at Victory Field that will kick off an eight-day, nine-game homestand for the Indians. The first game on July 12 will begin at 6:05 p.m., with the second game scheduled to begin shortly after the conclusion of game one. LHP Jeff Locke (7-4, 2.92) is expected to make the first start for the Tribe while RHP Daniel Cabrera (4-3, 4.65) will likely take the mound in game two.

The contests will be broadcast on HTSN (Hometown Sports and News), available via cable or over-the-air on digital channel 6.2. The games 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 5:45 p.m.

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