IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Belt Eleven Doubles to Beat Bats 10-1

July 8, 2011 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Indianapolis Indians pounded a Victory Field era record 11 doubles, including three from first baseman Matt Hague and two each from left fielder John Bowker and third baseman Pedro Alvarez, while starter Brad Lincoln struck out eight over seven innings to lead the Tribe to a 10-1 victory over the Louisville Bats on Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

With the win Indianapolis moves back to the .500 mark at 45-45, while the loss drops Louisville's record to 49-41. The victory also evens the current series at 1-1 and improves the Indians season mark to 3-5 against the Bats overall.

While the offense was the story of the night with the record setting double performance, it was starter Brad Lincoln that held down a powerful Bats' lineup until the Tribe offense erupted in the later frames. Lincoln (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO) struck out a season high eight batters and surrendered just one run on three singles over seven innings to earn the victory and improve to 7-7 on the season.

Louisville did take the first lead of the game when they plated a single score in the bottom of the second as C Devin Mesoraco and RF Jeremy Hermida led of with back-to-back base hits, before 2B Chris Valaika lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Mesoraco. However, the Indians offense would take over from there as they plated multiple tallies in the third, sixth, eighth and ninth innings to come away with the 10-1 blowout victory.

Doubles were the story of the show as all but one of the Indians' position players collected at least one two-bagger. After All-Star 1B Matt Hague broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with the teams first double in the second inning, Bowker brought home the Tribe's first two tallies with a two-run two bagger in the top of the third that plated 2B Corey Wimberly and SS Jordy Mercer.

The Indians then tacked on three more scores in the sixth inning as after Mercer led off the frame with a base hit, Bowker, Alvarez and Hague connected on back-to-back-to-back doubles to extend the Tribe lead to 5-1. Indianapolis then put the game well out of reach with some late insurance tallies, beginning with another three-spot in the eighth.

Alvarez began the scoring in the eighth by doubling and eventually coming home, when RF Anthony Norman lined a double of his own to right. CF Gorkys Hernandez then extended the advantage to 8-1 with a two-base hit to left to score Norman and Hague, who reached on a hit by pitch earlier in the frame

Finally, the Tribe finished off the night with a trio of ninth inning two-baggers, beginning with a lead-off double from Mercer. After Alvarez brought home Mercer with a sacrifice fly, Hague capped a slump busting night with his third double of the game, before scoring the games final run on another double, this one of the ground-rule variety off the bat of C Dusty Brown.

All in all the Indians offense put on quite a show as they not only broke the Victory Field era double's record by three, but also saw every starter, including starting pitcher Brad Lincoln, collect at least one hit. The middle of the Tribe lineup was absolutely devastating as Mercer (3-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B), Bowker (2-for-5, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Alvarez (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI) and Hague (3-for-4, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 RBI) combined to go 10-for-18 with eight runs, eight doubles and six RBI.

Indianapolis also got two scoreless innings of relief from relievers Mike Crotta (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) and Donnie Veal (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 SO), while all three Louisville hurlers surrendered multiple runs. Bats starter Scott Carroll (6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO) gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings to suffer the loss and fall to 6-4 on the season.

The Indians and Bats will now play two contests at Victory Field before heading into the three day All-Star break. The first contest is set for Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. with Indians RHP Sean Gallagher and Bats LHP Tom Cochran scheduled to take the mound.

The contest will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones, while also being broadcast live on Comcast and Bright House Networks digital channel 81 with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- RHP Brad Lincoln

(on how he felt on the mound) "I felt good, I just attacked hitters with my fastball. When I got them in a count where I could put them away, I just went at them. I was able to get some big outs when I wanted to. I felt good out there with my fastball, I was locating it pretty well and was able to get some quick outs when I needed them."

(on the key to shutting down a powerful Bats lineup the second time through) "Just getting ahead. Not only with my fastball, but also throwing my breaking pitches for a first pitch strike. Just working ahead in the count is the key to getting those outs. My offense made it easy on me tonight, putting a lot of runs up for me and I was able get comfortable out there and attack the zone."

(on if his start for the Pirates in Washington on July 2 did anything for him) "Absolutely. To know I can go up there and attack with my fastball and get those guys out It's makes it that more comfortable to go in and have faith in my fastball and use it to my advantage. Yeah, I think it helped me out a ton."

(on how critical the final two games before the All-Star break are) "We need to finish out strong We have turned it up a notch the last two months after the first month was pretty rough. We have been playing some pretty good baseball and if we can finish out these last two games strong heading into the break I think it will help us coming off the break in Columbus."

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