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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Homers Highlight 7-2 Tribe Win

May 8, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Left fielder Gorkys Hernandez and first baseman Jeff Clement both went deep in support of Tribe starter Rudy Owens, who picked up his second win of the season as the Indianapolis Indians beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7-2 on Tuesday night at Victory Field.

Indianapolis would fall behind for the first time since losing at Norfolk on May 4 as Lehigh Valley CF Scott Podsednik led off the game with a single and stole second base before coming around to score on 3B Hector Luna's two-out, RBI double to give the IronPigs a 1-0 lead.

Gorkys Hernandez promptly erased that deficit in the bottom of the frame, launching a home run with one out, for his first of the season and only the 25th home of his seven-year professional career, to tie the game at 1-1.

The IronPigs weren't done quite yet, however, as back-to-back leadoff doubles from 2B Mike Fontenot and RF Derrick Mitchell in the top of the second gave Lehigh Valley a brief 2-1 lead. The Indians answered immediately for a second time as 2B Jordy Mercer, who had singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games, scored on C Jose Morales' RBI groundout, tying the game at 2-2.

Owens (6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) wasn't at his best on Tuesday night, allowing eight hits four of which were doubles to the IronPigs, but settled in shutting out Lehigh Valley over his final four innings en route to earning his second win of the season. It was the southpaw's first start since being named the Tribe's April Player of the Month.

Clement gave Owens the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning, launching his first home run of the season just inside the right field foul pole to put Indianapolis up 3-2. The long ball was Clement's tenth extra-base hit of the season with the other nine all having been doubles.

Not satisfied with the one-run lead, the Indians tacked on three more in the bottom of the sixth inning. After LF Jake Fox walked to lead off the frame, Mercer hit a one-out single to put runners on first and second with RF Brandon Boggs stepping up to the plate.

Boggs smacked a two-run double to the right-center-field gap, plating Fox with Mercer on his heels. The Tribe right fielder also contributed heavily on defense, flashing the leather with back-to-back running catches in foul territory to end the third inning before chasing down a shot deep in the gap in the fourth inning, making a backhand catch that likely saved two runs. He capped his Gold Glove night by snagging a sinking liner in shallow right in the fifth inning.

After his double made the score 5-2, Boggs came around the score on a single by Morales to give the Tribe a 6-2 lead. The two-RBI night was the second of the season for Morales since he came off the disabled list on April 22.

Indianapolis added a final run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the game its final tally. Hague led off the frame with a single, his only hit of the night. After two strikeouts, Mercer then drove Hague home with a double to make it 7-2 Indians. The double was Mercer's third base knock of the night and during his nine-game hitting streak the right handed slugger has now collected 15 hits and posted four multi-hit games.

A trio of Tribe relievers helped nail down the victory, each tossing an inning of shutout baseball. RHP Daniel McCutchen (1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) and RHP Evan Meek (1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) each tossed a perfect inning while LHP Doug Slaten (1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) worked around two hits in the ninth inning to close out the ballgame and lower his season ERA to 0.57 in 10 appearances.

The Indians' fourth straight win improves them to 18-13 on the season while Lehigh Valley falls to 17-14. The two teams face off again on Wednesday afternoon, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Indianapolis will likely send LHP Justin Wilson (2-3, 3.97) to the mound and the IronPigs are expected to counter with LHP Pat Misch (1-4, 6.56).

The contest will be televised on HTSN (Hometown Sports and News), available via cable or over-the-air on digital channel 6.2. The game will also be carried on 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 12:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- RF Brandon Boggs

(On the offense's progress during the recent winning streak) "We're starting to put it all together. We're starting to make adjustments and we're starting to put up runs on the board."

(On his defensive plays in right) "I'm just getting used to right field. I'm usually a center field, left field type of guy, but on this team, I'm playing a lot of right and I'm getting used to it and getting used to the wall and a lot of area over there. I judged them right and got to them and made some great plays."

(On taking a hit away by tracking a fly ball down in right center) "I've been working on my jumps during BP and on that one, I just got a good jump and got under it."

(On his recent success at home after a tough road trip) "We've got to attribute a lot of that to the fans and how they're behind us all the time. This field is just great to come to every time you come, so it just feels good when you play here."

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