IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Extra-Frame HRs Lift Tribe by Bulls 6-4

Published on June 15, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


DURHAM, N.C. -- Designated hitter Brett Carroll and right fielder Jerry Sands each launched solo longballs in the top of the 10th inning as the Indianapolis Indians defeated the Durham Bulls 6-4 on Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

After the Indians jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage, the Bulls, for the second straight night, battled back to even things up. However, thanks to an extra-inning power surge the Indians were able to come away with the 6-4 game two victory.

Both starters began the night with four scoreless frames of work, before Indianapolis finally broke through against Triple-A rookie Merrill Kelly (5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO). Despite striking out an impressive 10 batters in his first foray at the Triple-A level, Kelly could not fully contain the Tribe offense that finally broke through with a single score in the top of the 5th.

C Tony Sanchez began the fifth frame rally with a two-out base hit that deflected off shortstop Tim Beckham, before coming around to score when Sands followed with a line drive double to right. After breaking the 0-0 tie in the fifth, the Indians extended their advantage to 4-0 with a three-run rally in the sixth.

SS Chase d'Arnaud led off the sixth with a base-on-balls before travelling along a two-run blast off the bat of Indians 1B Matt Hague. The longball was Hague's sixth on the season and first in the month of June.

Following, Hague's roundtripper the Tribe tacked on another tally as 3B Jared Goedert laced a one-out single to left, and after a wild pitch advanced him to second, came plateward when LF Andrew Lambo came through with a line drive double to right. With his run scoring base knock, Lambo continues to be an RBI machine as he now has an impressive seven RBI in fives games with Indianapolis this season.

However, after fighting back from a 7-2 deficit the night before, the Bulls once again mounted a comeback with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. RF Wil Myers began the rally by reaching on a Tribe miscue to lead-off the sixth, before a single from LF Leslie Anderson and second Indians' error put runners on first and second.

3B Cole Figueroa then came through with a clutch two-out base knock to plate both Myers and Anderson and cut the Tribe advantage to just 4-2. Durham then evened things up in the seventh as SS Tim Beckham drew a one-out walk, and was brought quickly home on a triple off the bat of 1B Vince Belnome, before Belnome crossed home on a Tribe passed ball to even the score at 4-4.

Both bullpens buckled down after the seventh, eventually forcing the game into extra innings, where in the top of the 10th the Indians brought out their big bats and blasted two homers to take over the lead. Carroll began the fireworks with his team-leading 12th homer of the season, before Sands capped the night with a mammoth homer later in the frame.

Tribe reliever Duke Welker (1.0 IP) finished out 4 hour and 10 minute contest with a scoreless bottom of the 10th to earn his second save of the year, giving a victory to RHP Tim Alderson (1.0 IP, 1 SO), who improved to 3-0 after tossing a perfect bottom of the ninth. Indianapolis starter Andy Oliver (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO) turned in a nice bounce back performance striking out seven over 5.0 scoreless innings.

The Indians and Bulls now continue their series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. LHP Kris Johnson (5-3, 3.23 ERA) is scheduled to make his return to the Indianapolis starting rotation, while Durham is expected to counter with RHP Matt Buschmann (1-0, 2.25)

The game will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, 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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International League Stories from June 15, 2013


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