IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Gustafson Guides Gwinnett to 6-5

Published on May 24, 2010 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Gwinnett starting pitcher Tim Gustafson allowed three runs in five innings of work and collected a double and a home run before the Braves held off a ninth inning Tribe rally to earn a 6-5 win over the Indianapolis Indians on Monday night at Victory Field.

With the loss, Indianapolis' record falls to 22-23 and the team drops under the .500 mark for the first time since May 1, when the Tribe lost a 10-6 decision to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The win improves Gwinnett's record to 20-24 on the season and ups their all-time record against the Indians to 8-3.

Gustafson (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 3 SO), making his first appearance since allowing a season-high seven earned runs against the Columbus Clippers on May 19, limited the Indians' offense to three runs and five hits in five innings of work to earn his fourth win of the season. The right-hander also contributed to the Braves' offensive attack, scoring Gwinnett's first run of the evening after doubling to left field in the third and driving in the team's sixth run of the night on a lead off home run in the sixth.

While Gustafson was the story of the evening, the Indians staged a ninth inning rally against the Braves' bullpen to put the right-hander's win in jeopardy. Pinch-hitter Luke Carlin reached on an error by Gwinnett SS Brandon Hicks to start the inning, advanced to second on a single by Tabata, and, after an out, moved to third on a walk by Myrow to load the bases.

With the sacks packed and one out, 3B Pedro Alvarez stepped to the plate and rolled a ball down the first baseline that was booted by 1B Freddie Freeman for an error, allowing Carlin and Tabata to come plateward and cut the deficit to 6-5 with one out. The Indians' had an opportunity to tie the contest with runners at the , but Braves' RHP Stephen Marek (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB) induced a game-ending double play to quiet the Tribe's rally and earn his second save of the season.

The Indians' jumped on Gustafson early on with two runs in the first after CF Jose Tabata started the inning with a single and then moved to third on double to the gap in center field by 2B Neil Walker. With no outs in the inning, 1B Brian Myrow drove in the Tribe's first run of the contest with a ground out to third base before 3B Pedro Alvarez plated the team's second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Indians' the 2-0 edge.

Gwinnett erased the Indianapolis lead in the top half of the third inning with a two-out, three-run home run to left field by RF Mitch Jones. Gustafson led off the inning with double to left field to record the first hit of his professional baseball career and CF Jordan Schafer followed with a walk before two Gwinnett outs set the stage for Jones, who lined the first pitch of his at-bat around the left field foul pole to give the Braves the 3-2 lead.

The Braves scored two additional runs in the fifth and a single run in the sixth to take a 6-3 lead over the Indians. 3B Wes Timmons walked to kick off the fifth and stole second base with two outs before LF Matt Young doubled to score Timmons and then touched home himself on a single by 2B Joe Thurston's one batter later. Gustafson's first home run in his minor league career gave the Braves the 6-3 edge and proved to be the deciding run in the contest.

Indians' RHP Mike Crotta (5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) was strapped with his third loss of the season after allowing five earned runs in five innings of work, while LHP Justin Thomas (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER) had his 15.1 IP scoreless streak snapped by Gustafson's lead off home run in the sixth inning.

Five Gwinnett Braves' hitters - including Gustafson - tallied multiple hits on the evening en route to the 12-hit, six-run offensive effort, while Tabata (3-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B) was the only Tribe player to record multiple base hits in the contest.

The Indians conclude their four-game set with the Gwinnett Braves on Tuesday, May 25 at 7:00 p.m. RHP Chris Resop is expected to get the nod for the Braves, while the Tribe has yet to name a starter.

The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and broadcast live on Comcast and Bright House Networks digital channel 81 with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show on WXLW-950 AM begins at 6:40 p.m.

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