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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indianapolis Bests Buffalo 6-2

July 30, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Tribe starter Rick VandenHurk struck out seven over six innings and the Indians made several impressive defensive plays to preserve a lead that came on a massive solo home run off the bat of left fielder Yamaico Navarro as Indianapolis went on to defeat the Buffalo Bisons 6-2 on Monday night at Victory Field.

Buffalo would begin the contest with back-to-back golden opportunities to take an early advantage. In the first the Bisons would put the first two runners of the game on base but fail to score, before having the go ahead runner nailed at home on a throw from Navarro in the second.

With help from the excellent team defense, VandenHurk (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) would scatter seven hits over six frames to earn the victory and improve to 10-3 on the season. With the victory, VandenHurk becomes the first Indians pitcher and just the sixth hurler in the International League to reach double-digit wins this season.

Buffalo would, however, break through with a single score in the top of the third when LF Fred Lewis led off the frame with a triple and eventually came plateward on a single by RF Lucas Duda. The RBI for Duda, who was recently optioned back down to Buffalo from the New York Mets, was his first in Triple-A this season.

VandenHurk would, however, get that run back all by himself by sparking an offensive rally in the bottom half of the inning. The Indians starter drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a walk by SS Chase d'Arnaud and came around to score on a base hit by RF Jose Tabata to even the score at 1-1.

Navarro then came through with what proved to be the go-ahead score when he blasted a moon shot over the left-field wall in the bottom of the fourth. The longball for Navarro was his sixth on the season and third at Victory Field.

Around Navarro's blast, the Indians defense would step up with more spectacular defensive plays including an excellent running catch from Tabata, an amazing diving play by d'Arnaud and an unbelievable track down by CF Gorkys Hernandez. Buffalo had a few defensive gems of their own as they nailed two Indians runs at the plate and got a few fantastic catches from LF Fred Lewis.

However, Indianapolis would put the game out of reach with a four-run rally in the bottom of the of the seventh. Hernandez began the rally with a one out base hit to right, before a walk to Tabata and base hit by 3B Matt Hague loaded the bases for 1B Jeff Clement.

Following a pitching change, Clement would deliver a clutch bases-clearing double to extend the Indians advantage to 6-1. With his two-bagger, Clement continues to lead the Tribe and rank second in the International League in doubles with 32 this season.

Following an excellent bounce-back effort from VandenHurk, Tribe relievers Daniel McCutchen, Doug Slaten and Jose Diaz would finish out the victory. McCutchen (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) would toss a scoreless seventh to earn his third hold of the season, before Slaten (1.0 IP, 1 SO) tossed his 20th straight scoreless inning and Diaz (1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER) finished off the ninth.

Buffalo reliever Dylan Owen (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) would suffer the loss to fall to 4-8 on the season after surrendering four runs on five hits and two walks over 3.1 innings of work. Bisons starter Jenrry Mejia (3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) did not figure in the final decision after allowing a run on four hits and three walks over just three innings of work.

With the victory the Indians improve to 68-43 and extend their lead in the International League West Division back to nine games over the Columbus Clippers, who fell to the Rochester Red Wings 7-2. Indianapolis and Buffalo will now wrap up their series on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Looking for the series victory, the Indians are expected to send RHP Chris Leroux to the mound, while the Bisons are scheduled to counter with RHP Collin McHugh.

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 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 6:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- 1B Jeff Clement

(On his bases-loaded double in the seventh that provided three important insurance runs) "In baseball, you never know, especially against a good team like the Bisons. They've got a good lineup and they're going to fight for every out. They made it a little tougher on us in the ninth, but it was good that we had that cushion."

(On whether the pressure is more on the pitcher than it is on the batter in clutch situations) "You've got to remind yourself of that. When you get up in big situations, you can't try to do too much because then you start swinging at things you shouldn't. You've got to realize that he's the one who has to make the pitches and get something that you want and take a good swing at it."

(On the Indians' dominance at home) "Obviously, we want to play as well as we can at home and on the road, but here, we like to take care of business and we've done that for the most part this season. We'll look to do it again the other night."

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