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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Cut Down Clippers 4-3

July 15, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Left fielder Alex Presley gunned down pinch-runner Trevor Crowe at home for the final out of the game, while right fielder Brandon Boggs provided two clutch RBI to give the Indianapolis Indians the 4-3 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

The eighth straight matchup between division rivals Indianapolis and Columbus fittingly ended in exciting fashion on Sunday afternoon. After Tribe closer Tim Wood got the first two outs of the top of the ninth, Columbus belted back-to-back base hits to set the stage for the fantastic finish.

SS Jason Donald stepped into the box against Wood looking to even the score and possibly even put the Clippers ahead. Donald would line a base hit to left that would roll into the glove of Presley, who would come up throwing and nail pinch-runner Trevor Crowe at the plate to end the game.

The back-and-forth battle began with Columbus jumping out a quick lead with a single score in the top of the first. 1B Vinny Rottino continued his destruction of Tribe pitching as he doubled home Donald with one in the first.

After the Indians battled back to take the lead with two runs in the second and one in the third, Rottino would score the Clippers second run when he led off the fourth with his second two-bagger of the game and eventually scored on a double by 3B Russ Canzler. With multi-hit effort Rottino is now batting .368 (14-for-38) with 10 runs, three doubles, one triple, five home runs, 14 RBI, five walks and three stolen bases in 10 games against the Tribe between Buffalo and Columbus this season.

Indianapolis took the lead in the second on an RBI double by SS Chase d'Arnaud and run-scoring base hit by 2B Anderson Hernandez. In his first action since re-joining the team following paternity leave, 1B Jeff Clement began the second with a base hit, eventually scoring on the two-bagger on d'Arnaud, before Hernandez brought home d'Arnaud with his base knock.

The Tribe then extended their advantage to 3-1 in the third by plating a single tally on three straight base knocks from Presley, CF Jose Tabata and Boggs. Presley began the rally with a line drive base knock to right before Tabata moved him to second with a base hit to left and Boggs brought him home with a single to right.

After Columbus got a run back on Canzler's RBI double in the fourth, Indianapolis would push what proved to be the game-winning tally across in the fifth. 3B Brian Friday led off the frame with a single to center, moved to second on a Clippers wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout by Presley. Then, after a lineout by Tabata, Boggs would come through with a clutch single to center to plate Friday and extend the Indians lead to 4-2.

Canzler would make things a little more interesting when he launched his 14th homer of the season with two outs in the top of the eighth; however, the Tribe bullpen would close the door and give the Indians the series victory.

Indianapolis starter Rick VandenHurk (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) allowed just two runs on six hits over six innings to earn his team-leading ninth victory of the season. Following VandenHurk, RHP Bryan Morris (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) would allow just a single score over two innings of work to earn his eighth hold of the season, before Wood (1.0 IP, 3 H) picked up his 14th save of the season with help from Presley's game-ending assist.

Columbus starter T. J. McFarland (5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO) suffered the loss after allowing all four Indians runs on nine hits over just five innings of work. Relievers Matt Langwell (1.2 IP, 3 SO) and Eric Berger (1.1 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO) were a bright spot out of the Clippers bullpen combining for three hitless innings of relief in a losing effort.

The victory for the Indians (59-36) gives them a 3-2 series win over Columbus and pushes their advantage back to 12 games over the Clippers in the IL west division. Indianapolis will now welcome Gwinnett to Victory Field for a four-game series beginning on Monday night at 7:05 p.m. with LHP Rudy Owens expected to get the start for the Indians and the Braves scheduled to counter with RHP Eric Junge.

The contest will be televised on HTSN (Hometown Sports and News), available via cable or over-the-air on digital channel 6.2. The game will also be carried on WNDE 1260 AM-WFBQ-HD2, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with Howard Kellman and Will Flemming on the call. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- RF Brandon Boggs

(On lengthening the team's lead over second-place Columbus) "Columbus has had our number all season, but we've just got to focus on what we need to do and just keep making some distance so we can just run away with it in the second half. And (left fielder Alex) Presley at the end: that was just a great throw and ended the game for us on a good note."

(On his recent hot streak) "The difference is just working in the cages, working on my timing and just being selective and getting good pitches to hit."

(On his approach before his game-winning hit) "I was just ready for a breaking ball. I knew he didn't want to come with the fastball because I've been hitting the fastball pretty well, and he just left it up a little bit and I put a good swing on it."

(On the team's approach against starting pitcher T.J. McFarland) "He's got a good sinker, and our approach is to kind of get him up. We got him up today and we got some hits through the holes and we made him work today."

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