IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Durham Escapes With 2-1 Win Over Indianapolis

July 21, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Designated hitter Ben Zobrist crushed a solo homer with one out in the top of the 10th before right-hander Juan Salas sailed through the bottom half of the frame for his first save as Durham escaped with a 2-1 win over Indianapolis in front of 12,583 Saturday evening at Victory Field.

The Bulls improve to 53-47 overall and 26-23 on the road, while the Indians fall to 50-49 on the season and 29-22 at home. The win pulls Durham to within one game of Buffalo in the International League's Wild Card race.

Zobrist's sixth long ball of the campaign sailed 375 feet inside the right-field foul pole and came after the 26-year-old was retired in his first four plate appearances of the night.

The dramatic ending came after both teams scored in the second. Durham 3B Joel Guzman hammered a double to right before coming plateward on a pair of Tribe miscues. Indianapolis 1B Brad Eldred then plastered his 10th Triple-A roundtripper of the year -- a 385-foot job to left center.

Three Bulls relievers -- LHP Jon Switzer (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO), RHP Chad Orvella (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) and Salas (1.0 IP, 1 SO) -- combined for five scoreless innings after LHP Mike Prochaska (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) departed. Orvella was credited with his second win in as many decisions.

Indians RHP Bryan Bullington (7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) did not figure in the decision, while RHP Josh Sharpless (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) fell to 1-4 despite a season-high strikeout total.

Each team had one player notch a multi-hit game -- RF Jeremy Owens (2-for-4) from the visiting dugout and Eldred (2-for-4) from the home side.

The Bulls have now won six of their last seven games, while the Indians have dropped 11 of their past 13 overall.

The teams return to Victory Field on Sunday at 2 p.m., for game three of the four-game set. RHP Jae Seo is slated to start for Durham, while RHP Runelvys Hernandez is expected to get the nod for Indianapolis.

The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 1:40 p.m.

The first 4,000 fans receive an Indians Baseball Cap courtesy of Ivy Tech, Marathon and WTHR-Ch. 13.

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International League Stories from July 21, 2007


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