Indians Blast Bulls, 9-1
Published on June 22, 2010 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
INDIANAPOLIS -- Shortstop Doug Bernier, catcher Erik Kratz, designated hitter Jeff Clement and center fielder Jonathan Van Every each blasted home runs, while starting pitcher Hayden Penn struck out nine over six strong innings of work to lead the Indianapolis Indians over the Durham Bulls 9-1 on Tuesday night at Victory Field.
With the victory, Indianapolis' record improves to 39-33, while Durham falls to 42-29 on the season with the loss. The win for the Indians also evens the series at 1-1 and improves their record at Victory Field to 20-14 this season.
Penn (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO) dominated the Durham offense as he struck out a season-high nine batters and surrendered just one unearned run on four hits to earn the victory and improve to 3-2 on the season. The Tribe right hander continued his dominance in the month of June as he has now posted a 3-1 record, 1.32 ERA (4 ER in 27.1 IP) and a 27 to eight strikeout to walk ratio in the season's third month.
Following Penn, Indians' relievers Justin Thomas (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) and Steven Jackson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) combined for three innings of scoreless relief. With three scoreless frames of work, the Tribe bullpen has now posted a 4-0 record and a miniscule 1.14 ERA (9 ER in 71.0 IP) in the month of June.
After being held to one hit the night before, the Indianapolis offense exploded for nine runs on 12 hits, including tying a season high with four home runs. All but one Tribe batter reached base at least once with five individual batters turning in multi-hit efforts and three collecting multiple RBI.
Clement started the scoring attack in the second when he blasted a two-run home run that brought home Kratz, who led of the frame with a single to left. The longball for Clement was his third in just 11 games since joining the Tribe on June 9 and his two RBI now ups his total to eight on the year.
One batter after Clement started the offensive explosion, Van Every lifted a solo shot to right-center field to push the Tribe ahead 3-0. The blast for Van Every was his first since being reacquired by Indianapolis on May 31, with his last longball in a Tribe uniform coming on April 18 against Toledo during the Indians' first home series of the season.
Then, after traveling along on Clement's shot in the second, Kratz came through with a homer of his own when he lifted a two-run round-tripper to left field that plated 1B Steve Pearce, who drew a two-out walk to extend the frame for Kratz. The homer for Kratz gives him a team-best seven on the season, while his 30 RBI now ranks second behind only Brian Myrow's 32.
However, the Indians' offensive outburst was not done yet as SS Doug Bernier led off the bottom of the fifth with a shot to left field for his first home run since August 16, 2008 with Triple-A Colorado Springs, a stretch of 346 at-bats without a homer. The Tribe then tacked on two more tallies in the following frame when Van Every brought home Clement with a single to right, before RF Brandon Jones came through with a sacrifice fly to plate Myrow.
Pearce capped the Indians' scoring in the seventh when, after 2B Jim Negrych led off the inning with a single up the middle, he roped a double to center to give the Tribe a 9-1 lead. Negrych (2-for-4, 1 R) was one of the five Tribe hitters with multiple base knocks as Bernier (2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI), Kratz (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI), Myrow (2-for-4, 1 R) and Van Every (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI) also posted multi-hit efforts.
3B Dan Johnson scored the only run for the Bulls after he lined a two-out single to left in the fourth inning and, following a single by 2B Joe Dillon, came around to score on an Indians' throwing error. Dillon (2-for-3) and CF Desmond Jennings (2-for-5) turned in the only multi-hit performances for Durham.
Bulls' starter and Evansville, Indiana native Heath Phillips (5.1 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 6-6 on the season after allowing eight runs on 10 hits, including four home runs over 5.1 innings of work, while reliever Justin Garcia (2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO) allowed a single run on two hits in his Triple-A debut with the Bulls.
Indianapolis continues its four-game set with Durham on Wednesday, June 23 at 1:00 p.m. LHP Brian Burres is expected to get the call for the Indians, while RHP Richard De Los Santos is the probable starter 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 12:40 p.m.
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