IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians prevail over Pawsox in extras

Published on July 18, 2009 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Left fielder Lastings Milledge collected his fourth straight multi-hit contest going 4-for-6 and driving in the game-winning run with an RBI single in the 10th as the Indianapolis Indians rallied past the Pawtucket Red Sox 8-7 Saturday night at McCoy Stadium.

With the win the Indians improve to 44-49 on the season and 23-26 on the road, while the Red Sox fall to 43-47 overall and 21-24 at home with the loss. With the victory Indianapolis takes a 5-2 season series edge over the PawSox, while the loss is Pawtucket's eighth in-a-row and 11th in their last 12 games.

The Tribe offense remained red hot against Red Sox hurlers as they ripped 14 hits and plated multiple runs in three separate innings to take home their third consecutive victory.

Milledge, who entered the contest batting .474 in his time with the Tribe, collected four hits to improve his average to a jaw dropping .520 (13-for-25) with three runs, five RBI and just one strikeout in seven games so far with Indianapolis. The slugging outfielder also drove in what turned out to be the game winning run in the 10th, when lifted a single to center that scored 2B Shelby Ford, who led off the frame with a base hit of his own.

Ford, also gave the Tribe their first lead of the evening when he blasted a two-run shot in the second inning that plated International League All-Star catcher Erik Kratz and gave him his third home run of the season and second of the series. This came after Pawtucket took an early 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by DH Paul McAnulty in the first, which was the first lead for the PawSox in the series and the last time they would hold the advantage during Saturday's contest.

Later after the Indians extended their lead to 3-1 in the third on an RBI single by DH Larry Broadway, Milledge sparked another Tribe rally when he led off the fifth with a double to left. Milledge would trot home later in the frame on a Broadway longball to deep right center field that pushed the Indians ahead 5-2.

The home runs for Broadway and Ford gave the Tribe multiple homers for the second time this series against Pawtucket, while Ford also went on to cross the plate three times for his second three-run effort over his past three games.

However, Pawtucket would even the score at five runs apiece in their half of the fifth on longballs from Freddy Guzman and McAnulty. The solo shot by Guzman was his second of the season, while McAnulty's two-run bomb was his team leading 11th so far this year.

Though Pawtucket drew the score even with their three-run outburst, Indianapolis would quickly answer with two runs of their own in the sixth led by yet another clutch hit by Milledge. After a lead-off double by Kratz, a walk by Ford, and a single by SS Brian Bixler loaded the bases, Milledge came through with an RBI single that brought home Kratz and moved Ford to third, where he would later score on a sacrifice fly by RF Brian Myrow.

The PawSox did show resiliency in this back-and-forth contest as they scored singles runs in the sixth and eighth to send the game to extras, but clutch pitching by Indians' reliever Mike Koplove and a clutch base hit by Milledge helped the Tribe to prevail yet again.

As he has many times this season Koplove (3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO) entered the contest in a jam with runners at first and third and nobody out in the bottom of the eighth. After surrendering a single to 3B Angel Chavez, Koplove then proceeded to strike out Guzman and induce Ocha into a double play that kept the score tied and set the stage for the Tribe's late inning heroics.

Koplove went on to also pitch the ninth and 10th innings as well to pick up the win and improve to 3-4 on the season, while Pawtucket's All-Star closer Fernando Cabrera (1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 SO) gave up the run in the 10th to take the loss and drop to 0-3 on the year.

Neither starter figured in the decision as both Indians RHP Brad Lincoln (5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Red Sox RHP Enrique Gonzalez (5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO) allowed five earned runs in five innings of work and struck out just one batter each.

Indianapolis finishes up their four-game series with Pawtucket on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. RHP Eric Hacker is scheduled to start for the Indians, while RHP Michael Bowden is expected to get the nod for the Red Sox.

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 12:45 p.m.

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International League Stories from July 18, 2009


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