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Indianapolis Indians

Indians Beat Bisons 7-3 in Extra Innings

June 20, 2010 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


BUFFALO, N.Y. -- First baseman Jeff Clement gave the Indianapolis Indians the lead in the top of the 12th inning with a two-run double and the Tribe offense scored four total runs in the frame to lead the Indians to a dramatic 7-3 extra-inning win over the Buffalo Bisons on Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Field.

With the win, Indianapolis improves to 38-32 on the season, while the loss drops Buffalo's record to 36-34. The victory also gives the Tribe the 3-1 series win over the Bisons and closes out the two teams' head-to-head season series, with the Indians having won six of the eight contests.

With the contest tied at 3-3 in the top of the 12th inning, Clement strode to the plate with C Erik Kratz standing at second and RF Steve Pearce stationed at first with one out. The Indians' first baseman, who entered his 12th inning at-bat with a 0-for-5 line and four strikeouts to his credit, swung through the first offering from Buffalo LHP Adam Pettyjohn before taking back-to-back balls to move the count to 2-1. Then, on the fourth pitch of his at-bat, the left-hander lined a two-run double to right field to give the Tribe a 5-3 lead.

CF Brandon Moss boosted the Indians' advantage to 6-3 with a ground-rule double to right-center field to plate Clement, before 3B Doug Bernier singled home the fourth run of the frame to give the Indians the decisive 7-3 edge.

Before Clement's 12th inning heroics, the Tribe jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the home half of the first on a two-out RBI single by Pearce. LF Kevin Melillo opened the contest with a line drive single to right field, advanced to second on a balk and then moved to third on a ground ball out, before Pearce, who is in the midst of a Major League rehabilitation stint, chopped the sixth pitch of his at-bat off the side of the pitcher's mound for a run-scoring infield single.

Staked to a 1-0 lead before even stepping on the mound, Indians' RHP Mike Crotta ran into trouble in both the first and second innings, but the Indians' defense picked up their starter to keep the Bisons scoreless.

In the first, Crotta retired the first two batters he faced with relative ease before allowing a two-out double to 1B Mike Jacobs. With a runner in scoring position, Bisons' 3B Mike Cervenak then lined the next offering from Crotta to left field for what appeared would be a run-scoring single, but Melillo came up throwing in left field and gunned down Jacobs at the plate to record the outfield assist.

The Tribe defense again picked up their starter in the second inning, when, with runners at the corners and one out, Crotta induced a ground ball to SS Argenis Diaz that he fielded on a tough hop and turned into a nifty 6-3 double play to keep the Bisons off the board.

The Indians maintained their 1-0 advantage until the bottom of the fifth when the Bisons tied the contest at 1-1 on three consecutive two-out singles. After the first two outs of the inning had been recorded, RHP Tobi Stoner, CF Jorge Padilla and SS Justin Turner strung together three straight singles to knot the score at 1-1.

The Tribe regained the lead with two runs in the top half of the sixth inning to take a 3-1 advantage. 2B Jim Negrych led off the frame with a single to center, and, after an out, advanced to third base on an error by Cervenak that allowed Pearce to reach first. 3B Brian Myrow gave Indianapolis the one-run edge with a run-scoring single to center, before Moss drove in the second run of the inning with a single to right field.

Indianapolis' lead was short-lived, however, as Buffalo scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the contest at 3-3 and eventually send it to extra innings. House kicked off the frame with line drive single to left field and then touched home two pitches later on a double by 2B Russ Adams to pull the Bisons to within a run of the Indians at 3-2. Buffalo then evened the score at 3-3 on a two-out broken bat base hit to left by Turner to pick up Adams, who had advanced to third with no one out after a wild pitch.

Neither starter figured in the final decision, as Indians' RHP Mike Crotta (5.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) allowed only one run in five innings of work, while Bisons' RHP Tobi Stoner (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) was spared the loss when his offense evened the score in the seventh after the starter had allowed three runs in 5.1 IP.

Tribe reliever Brandon Bass (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB) earned his second win of the season with three innings of scoreless relief, while Bisons' LHP Adam Pettyjohn (2.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) was strapped with his third loss of the season after allowing four runs in the top half of the 12th inning.

In a game that featured 25 total hits, three Tribe hitters - Kratz (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB), Pearce (2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB) and Moss (3-for-6, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI) - posted multi-hit efforts, while three Buffalo batters - Padilla (2-for-6), Turner (2-for-5, 2 RBI) and House (4-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B) - also recorded more than one base knock on the evening.

Indianapolis now returns home for an eight-game homestand beginning with a four-game series against the South Division-leading Durham Bulls. Game one of the series is set for Monday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m. with RHP Daniel McCutchen the probable starter for the Indians and LHP Carlos Hernandez expected to get the call for the Bulls.

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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