IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Columbus Scores 5-3 Win Over Indianapolis

July 26, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Center fielder Brandon Watson and second baseman Brent Abernathy collected four hits apiece as Columbus registered a 5-3 win over Indianapolis Thursday night at Cooper Stadium.

The Clippers improve to 47-58 overall and 26-29 at home, while the Indians fall to 52-52 on the season and 22-29 on the road. Friday will be the Tribe's 249th consecutive day with a record of .500 or better.

Watson (4-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI) and Abernathy (4-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI) combined to go 8-for-10 with three runs and two RBI. The 1-2 punch singled and scored in the first.

Watson and Abernathy got things rolling again with back-to-back base knocks in the fifth. LF George Lombard (2-for-4, 2 RBI) then drilled an RBI single to give the Clippers a lead they would not relinquish.

Two insurance runs followed for Columbus. C Brandon Harper crossed the dish on Abernathy's RBI single in the sixth, while SS Melvin Dorta trotted home on Watson's RBI base knock in the eighth.

Indianapolis plated its first two runs in the fourth. LF Michael Ryan (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI) hammered a triple to right center and 1B Jose Hernandez walked before 2B Yurendell de Caster and C Carlos Maldonado tagged back-to-back RBI singles.

Ryan then crushed his team-leading 11th roundtripper of 2007 -- a solo shot to right -- in the eighth, but the Tribe couldn't get over the hump. Indianapolis has now launched 17 dingers in 15 games since the All-Star Break after blasting just 61 long balls in its first 89 contests of the season.

Clippers RHP Collin Balester (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) improved to 1-1 with the win, while RHP Hector Carrasco (1.0 IP, 1 H) was credited with his first hold and RHP Winston Abreu (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) notched his fourth save.

Indians RHP Bryan Bullington (5.2 IP, 13 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) was pinned with the loss, falling to 10-5.

The teams wrap up the four-game series on Friday at 7:25 p.m. RHP Runelvys Hernandez is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Levale Speigner is expected to get the nod for Columbus.

The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 7:05 p.m.

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International League Stories from July 26, 2007


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