IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indianapolis falls short to Louisville, 7-6

Published on August 17, 2009 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Down 7-3 the Tribe plated two scores in the eighth and one in the ninth, but left a runner in scoring position as the Louisville Bats survived the rally to defeat the Indianapolis Indians 7-6 on Monday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

With the loss the Indians drop to 60-62 overall and 29-34 on the road, while the Bats improve to 71-51 overall and 41-23 at home with the win. The victory gives Louisville the 1-0 series lead as well as the season series advantage 8-4.

The Indians entered the eighth inning down 7-3 after Louisville overcame an early one-run deficit with five straight scores. The Tribe fought their way back to within one though with two runs in the eighth and one run in the ninth.

The first three Indianapolis batters each reached base in the top half of the eighth as 1B Jeff Clement led off with a walk before RF Tagg Bozied singled and 3B Neil Walker doubled.

Walker's fourth double in the past four games would plate Clement and move Bozied to third putting runners in scoring position with no outs. Bozied would then come plateward on a passed ball, but Walker would be left stranded as Louisville relievers' Enerio Del Rosario (1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Pedro Viola (0.1 IP, 1 SO) would combine to retire three straight Tribe hitters.

Both Del Rosario and Viola would pick up holds for the Bats before they gave way to closer Logan Ondrusek (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO). Ondrusek gave Louisville a scare in the ninth as he allowed Indians' 2B Pedro Lopez to collect a single and then come plateward on a two-out base knock by Clement.

Clement would then move to second base on a wild pitch putting the tying run in scoring position with two-outs in the ninth. The Louisville closer recovered though as Ondrusek struck out the very next batter to close the door on the Tribe for his sixth save of the season.

Louisville made an initial comeback of their own earlier in the contest as they erased a 2-0 deficit with the use of three multi-run innings. The Bats plated two in the bottom of the second, then collected three in the fifth before they capped it off with two more in the seventh.

Indianapolis jumped out to a quick lead thanks to a two-run home run in the top half of the second. Bozied led off the frame with a ground-rule double over the left-center field wall before he came plateward on a two-run long ball off the bat of C Erik Kratz.

The International League All-Star catcher's two-run blast was his eighth of the season and gave the Tribe a lead that wouldn't last long. After the two-run round-tripper in the top half Louisville answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second.

With one-out in the frame four consecutive Louisville batters reached base, including two straight doubles. 1B Wes Bankston reached on a base on balls before LF Daniel Dorn and SS Chris Valaika collected back-to-back two-baggers.

Dorn's double placed runners on first and second, while Valaika's two-bagger brought home Bankston and Dorn to nod the game at two apiece. Valaika (2-for-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI) would go on to record one of three Louisville multi-hit performances along with 2B Luis Bolivar (2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and 3B Juan Francisco (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI) who each recorded two base knocks.

Indianapolis would then answer with another run in very next frame to retake the lead. Again the Tribe would start the inning with an extra-base hit as LF Brian Myrow led off with a triple. After 1B Jeff Clement was walked Myrow came plateward when Bozied hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Myrow's score gave the Indians the one-run lead, however it would be their last lead off the night as Louisville put together two more multi-run innings. The Bats' would tally three runs in the fifth via the long ball as both Bolivar and Francisco launched home runs to give Louisville the lead.

Bolivar's solo shot to left field tied the game at three before Francisco plated himself and RF Chris Heisey, who singled, with a two-run roundtripper to center field. The Bats would then go on to tally two much needed scores in the bottom part of the seventh.

Bankston again started the rally with a one-out walk before Valaika smashed a ground rule double to right field. Both runners would then come plateward when C Chris Denove slapped a two-run single to right field. The base knock ended up being the game-winner as the Indians mounted their late rally to pull within one, but fell short.

Despite giving up three early runs, Louisville starter Travis Wood (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) still pitched six strong innings with two strikeouts to earn his third career Triple-A win. Wood's counterpart, Virgil Vasquez (6.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO), didn't receive the same result as he gave up five scores on ten hits and struck out four in a six inning losing effort.

While Bolivar, Francisco and Valaika all recorded multiple hits for the Bats, the Indians received three multi-hit performances as well with two-hit efforts from Bozied (2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B), Lopez (2-for-5, 1 R) and CF Jose Tabata (2-for-3).

Indianapolis continues their three-game series at Louisville on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. RHP Eric Hacker is scheduled to start for the Indians, while LHP Matt Maloney is expected to get the nod for the Bats.

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