IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Fantastic Five Lead Tribe by Bats 10-3

Published on June 30, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The first five batters in the Indians' lineup put together a dominating performance in Saturday night's contest at Louisville Slugger Field as second baseman Chase d'Arnaud, left fielder Gorkys Hernandez, center fielder Starling Marte, third baseman Matt Hague and first baseman Jeff Clement combined for 10 runs, 13 hits and eight RBI to lead the Indians past the Bats 10-3.

The Indians offense remained red hot on Saturday night led by the fantastic five of d'Arnaud, Gorkys Hernandez, Marte, Hague and Clement, who powered the Tribe to 20 games over .500 with a victory in the series opener against Louisville. All five finished the night with multiple hits and multiple runs, while all but one drove in at least one run .

Clement got things rolling in a big way when he blasted his team-leading 10th home run over the right field fence with one out in the top of the second. Then after Louisville evened the score with a single score of their own on an Indians' wild pitch in the bottom of the third, Hague would give the Indians the lead for good with one swing of the bat in the top half of the sixth.

2B Chase d'Arnaud led off the sixth with an infield single and after a sacrifice bunt by LF Gorkys Hernandez moved him to second, he would be joined on the basepaths by Marte, who drew a one out base on balls. Then, in just his third game back with the Tribe since being optioned from Pittsburgh, Hague connected on a three-run bomb to left field to give the Indians the lead for good at 4-1.

However, the Indianapolis offense was not finished on Saturday as they plated four more scores in the top of the eighth and two more tallies in the ninth. After Gorkys Hernandez ripped a one out double in the top of the eighth, Marte roped a base knock to center to plate Hernandez and push the Tribe lead to 5-1.

Hague then followed Marte with a single of his own to right, before the duo both trotted home when Clement line a triple to right. The three-bagger was Clement's second of the season and first since he hit for the cycle on June 2 at Victory Field.

Clement would come around to score himself when SS Jordy Mercer lifted a sacrifice fly to center to cap the four-run eighth. Louisville would respond with two scores of their own in the bottom half of the eighth on a two-run home run off the bat 3B Mike Constanzo, but the Indians would get those scores right back with two more tallies in the final frame.

d'Arnaud began the ninth by lining a base hit to left, before swiping second for his team-best 20th steal in 20 attempts this season. From second d'Arnaud would be brought home when Gorkys Hernandez followed with a single to center, before a single by Hague and a Bats' throwing error allowed the Tribe's final run to score and give the game its final score of 10-3.

Overshadowed by the offensive explosion was one of the best starts of the season for Tribe starter Daniel Cabrera (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO), who earned the victory to improve to 4-3 on the season after limiting Louisville to just one run while striking out five over six innings of work. The Indians also got two excellent efforts out of their bullpen as RHP Duke Welker (1.0 IP, 1 SO) earned his fourth hold of the season with a scoreless frame of work and LHP Kris Johnson (1.0 IP, 2 SO) struck out two in a perfect ninth.

The Bats pitching staff did not fare as well as all four Louisville hurlers surrendered at least one score. Bats starter Chad Reineke (6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO) would be pinned with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits while striking out eight over six innings of work.

With the victory the Indians not only improve to 20 game over .500, but also complete a record-setting 20-9 month of June. The Tribe will now continue their series in Louisville with a 6:05 p.m. contest on Sunday night with International League All-Star Rudy Owens expected to take the mound for the Indians and RHP Tim Gustafson scheduled to toe the rubber for the Bats.

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 5:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- 1B Jeff Clement

(On the offense continuing to roll) "We've got a really good team. We pitch the ball really well, we have been swinging it really well, we play defense really well, you do those three things well as a team and you are going to win a lot of games. Offense picked up today and put a lot of crooked numbers on the board. Anytime you put up 10 runs you are probably going to win the game."

(On there not being any breaks one through nine in the Tribe's lineup) "As the weather has heated up, we have started to heat up offensively. One through nine there are no breaks for their pitchers and we have a lot of confidence going up to the plate. We have seen a lot of these pitchers already this season and that helps a lot to know what kind of stuff they have."

(On the star potential of Indians OF Starling Marte) "There is no doubt about it. I had chance to see him this Spring for the first time and he dominated Spring Training. Granted that's a little different where pitchers are just trying to get their fastball across, but he was still hitting it. It doesn't matter who is out there pitching it, you still have to hit it. The last three weeks, to see him hit breaking balls, fastballs, changeups, his pitch recognition is so much better. He's been taking some great swings. Even the balls he is not getting, he is fouling straight back and is right on them. There is no doubt about it that he is going to be a star and it's fun to watch on a daily basis."

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