Indians Battle Back To Beat Bats 8-6
Published on April 28, 2009 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Right fielder Garrett Jones drove in four runs and starting pitcher Virgil Vasquez retired 13 straight as the Indianapolis Indians battled back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Louisville Bats 8-6 Tuesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
The Indians improve to 8-10 on the season and 5-4 on the road, while the Bats fall to 11-8 overall and 5-5 at home The win ends Louisville's three game winning streak over Indianapolis and improves the Indians' overall record to 2-3 against the Bats this season.
CF Jeff Salazar got the Tribe off to a quick start with a solo home run to right in the first inning, but the Bats quickly stole back momentum, when RF Jonny Gomes blasted a three-run long ball to left-center field in the bottom half of the frame. The home run for Louisville was there 11th homer in the past six games and gave them seven first inning scores in the short two-game series against the Tribe.
However the Indians, led by Vasquez and Jones, battled back to take a 4-3 lead with three runs in the third inning. In just his second professional game as a hitter, Tribe starting pitcher Virgil Vasquez started the Indians' offensive rally with a single in third.
2B Shelby Ford followed Vasquez's base knock with a single of his own and moved into scoring position, when 3B Neil Walker drew a walk to load the bases. Then, as he has all season, Jones came through in the clutch, rifling a two-out single to right field to score Vasquez and Ford and tie the score up at three runs apiece.
Jones later scored in the third inning on an error by Louisville to push the Indians back on top at 4-3. Then after SS Chris Barnwell extended the Tribe lead with an RBI double in the fourth, Jones sealed the deal with what turned out to be the game-winning two-run long ball in the fifth.
The homer for Jones was his third of the season and pushed his team leading RBI total to 20, a total which was at the time also good enough for third best in the International League. The four RBI for the Indians' outfielder also gives him three games with at least four RBI this season.
After the Tribe took back the lead in the third inning, Vasquez (6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) settled down and shutout the Bats' offense for the next four innings. The right hander ended up retiring the last 13 batters he faced en route to his first win in an Indians' uniform and improved his record to 1-1 on the season.
The Bats did mount a comeback attempt once Vasquez exited, as pinch hitter Luis Bolivar and Rosales each had RBI hits to pull Louisville to within two runs at 8-6. But Tribe relievers Jeremy Powell (1.0 IP, 1 H), who picked up his first hold of the season, and Chris Bootcheck (2.0 IP, 2 H, 4 SO), who collected his second save, combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to put an end to the Bats' comeback attempt.
Louisville starter Ramon Ramirez (4.1 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) took the loss to drop to 0-2 on the season as he gave up six runs in 4.1 innings and was the victim of two errors resulting in two unearned runs.
Rosales (2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI) remained red hot for the Bats with two hits in four at-bats to improve his average to .463 (19-for-41) over the last 11 games. CF Drew Stubbs (3-for-5, 1 R) and C Craig Tatum (2-for-4, 1 R) also added multi-hit games for Louisville, while Jones (2-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI) and Walker (2-for-4, 1 R) collected multiple base knocks for the Indians.
Indianapolis will enjoy an off day on Wednesday before opening an eight-game homestand with a Thursday match-up against Rochester. RHP Philip Humber is scheduled to start for the Red Wings in the series opener at 7 p.m., while RHP Jason Davis is expected to get the nod for the Indians.
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 6:40 p.m.
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Post-game quotes -- OF Garrett Jones
(on getting started on the day of a morning game)
"Day games after night games are always tough, so you need to do that little bit more in your preparation both mentally and physically. I think we did a good job getting rolling today and were able to swing the bats quite well and go out and score some runs."
(on his play and the team's play on the road trip)
"I am just continuing to try and have good at-bats. I am not quite where I want to be, but I feel I am doing pretty good and I have been able to get some pitches to hit. As a team, I think that our pitching staff is doing very well and our hitters are beginning to drive in more and more runs. We had a good road trip going 5-4 and hopefully we can continue our success when we make our way home."
International League Stories from April 28, 2009
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- Gwinnet spanks Norfolk, 8-2 - Norfolk Tides
- Rain Postpones Game - Syracuse Mets
- Tribe Roughs up Ramirez, Defeats Bats 8-6 - Louisville Bats
- Indians Battle Back To Beat Bats 8-6 - Indianapolis Indians
- Buffalo at Rochester - Buffalo Bisons
- Orioles Reinstate Mora From Dasabled List, Option Albers to Norfolk - Norfolk Tides
- Bisons Activate Figueroa, Pena and Nickeas, Garcia Released - Buffalo Bisons
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