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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Errors Doom Indians in Loss to Pawtucket

June 6, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Shortstop Chase d'Arnaud launched a leadoff homer on Wednesday and left fielder Gorkys Hernandez doubled twice in his return to the Indianapolis lineup, but a trio of errors and a wild pitch allowed three unearned runs to score as the Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Indians 6-5 at McCoy Stadium.

Two of the Indianapolis errors led to Pawtucket's game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the scored tied 5-5, LF Lars Anderson led off the frame by reaching base on an error in the infield. On the eighth pitch of the following at bat, RHP Bryan Morris (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) recorded a strikeout, but Anderson stole second base and advanced to third when the throw down to second ricocheted into left-center field.

After a groundout, Anderson scored on a two-out single to right by DH Che-Hsuan Lin, giving the game its final 6-5 score. Allowing just the one unearned run, Morris was saddled with the tough-luck loss on three innings of relief while Indians starter Rick VandenHurk (5.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HR) took a no decision.

Pawtucket sent a parade of pitchers to the mound in the game as six Red Sox threw in the game, with RHP Garrett Mock (1.0 IP, 2 K) eventually taking the win by tossing a perfect eighth inning, improving to 3-1. Fellow righty Mark Melancon (1.0 IP) earned his 10th save of the season with a perfect ninth.

For the second night in a row, the Indians had taken an early lead in the top of the first inning as the first four batters of the game reached base. d'Arnaud led off the game with a home run over the left-field fence, his first of the season, to make it 1-0. Up next, Hernandez --in his first at bat coming off a 19-day stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he played in nine games, including his major league debut -- followed d'Arnaud's blast with a double to left field.

Hernandez had been optioned to Indianapolis on Tuesday when Pittsburgh recalled OF Alex Presley, who posted a .631 slugging percentage during an 18-game refresher with Indianapolis, hitting two doubles, three triples and five home runs. Presley homered in his first game back with the Pirates on Tuesday night, his fourth big league longball of the season.

After CF Starling Marte walked to put runners on first and second, DH Jeff Clement roped a double to right field, scoring both Hernandez and Marte to give the Tribe a 3-0 lead. The pair of RBI extended Clement's team-lead to 25 on the season.

The Red Sox took back a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning when C Ryan Lavarnway reached base on a two-out fielders choice that resulted in a throwing error and allowed 3B Nate Spears and CF Ryan Kalish to score, cutting the Indianapolis lead to 3-2. A groundout two pitches later ended the inning and made both Pawtucket runs unearned.

Indianapolis grabbed a 4-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Hernandez hit his second double of the game to center field. The two-out two-bagger drove in 3B Brian Friday, who had fouled off four offerings en route to drawing an eight-pitch walk with one out. To that point, all of the Tribe's runs had come off Pawtucket starter Billy Buckner (4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR), who is of no relation to former Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner.

A half-inning later, the Red Sox drew within one run yet again. 1B Mauro Gomez led off the bottom of the frame with a walk and moved to third on RF Josh Kroeger's 14th double of the season before scoring on a wild pitch to cut the Tribe's lead to 4-3. Kroeger advanced to third on the play and raced toward home with the would-be game-tying run on a flyout to center by Spears, but Marte threw a strike to the plate and turned the potential sacrifice fly into an inning-ending double play.

Indianapolis extended the advantage to 5-3 lead with a run in the top of the fifth inning when RF Brandon Boggs doubled to right to drive in 2B Yamiaco Navarro, who had reached on a fielders choice earlier in the frame. However, Kalish and Lavarnway hit back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5 as Indians miscues throughout the game allowed Pawtucket to take home the victory.

With the loss, Indianapolis falls to 34-25 but maintains a 7.0-game lead in the International League's West Division as the Columbus Clippers lost 5-1 to the Buffalo Bisons. Pawtucket (38-22) hosts the Tribe again on Thursday night, with the first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. The Indians are expected to send rehabbing major league RHP Jeff Karstens (0-2, 4.82) to the mound, while the Red Sox will likely counter with RHP Brandon Duckworth (5-1, 4.34).

The game will 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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