Four Indians combine on one-hit shutout of Bats
Published on April 22, 2008 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
INDIANAPOLIS -- Four Indianapolis right-handers -- John Van Benschoten, Mike Thompson, Romulo Sanchez and Jonah Bayliss -- combined on a one-hit shutout in a 7-0 win over Louisville Tuesday night at Victory Field.
Van Benschoten (6.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 SO), who takes over the International League-lead in wins, improves to 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA. The Tribe's 2007 Right-Handed Pitcher of the Year used 94 pitches and allowed just three baserunners after opening the contest with nine straight balls.
Thompson (0.1 IP), Sanchez (1.0 IP, 2 SO) and Bayliss (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) combined on Indianapolis' third shutout of 2008. Louisville RF Chris Dickerson broke up the no-hit bid when he whacked a triple to right center with two outs in the ninth.
The Indians improve to 12-7 overall and 7-2 at home, while the Bats fall to 12-7 on the season and 7-4 on the road. The two clubs are now tied atop the IL's West Division.
Indianapolis scored three runs in the first and never looked back. The Tribe took advantage of three hit batsmen, a double by CF Andrew McCutchen and two-run single by SS Josh Wilson to build the early cushion.
The Indians added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth frames. McCutchen roped a double to left, stole third and scored on 2B Matt Kata's single in the fourth, while Kata lined a base knock, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came plateward on RF Steve Pearce's sacrifice fly in the sixth.
The Tribe turned on cruise control with two runs in the eighth. LF Kevin Thompson clobbered his third roundtripper of the season -- a two-run shot to left -- after PH Craig Wilson tagged a single to left.
Four Indians -- J. Wilson (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Kata (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI), McCutchen (2-for-4, 2 R) and K. Thompson (2-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI) -- registered multi-hit games in the victory. McCutchen extended his season-best hitting streak to 10 games, while Thompson has now reached base safely in 16 consecutive affairs.
Louisville LHP Matt Maloney (4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) was pinned with the loss, falling to 1-1.
The teams continue their four-game series on Wednesday at 2 p.m. LHP Adam Pettyjohn is scheduled to start for Louisville, while RHP Bryan Bullington is expected to get the nod for Indianapolis.
The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 1:40 p.m.
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Post-game quotes -- RHP John Van Benschoten
(his thoughts on throwing nine straight balls to open the game) "There was really nothing going through my mind. It was early and I knew I was going to bounce back. âStuff' is going to come and go. You just have to trust it. Whether it's the first pitch or the 12th, you have trust your stuff and know it's going to work."
(did you feel like you had no-hit stuff tonight?) "Actually, I felt like I did. I had good location after the first inning, and, with everything else working in my favor, I knew it was going to be a good night."
International League Stories from April 22, 2008
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