IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Rally for 12-9 Win over Columbus

July 14, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- A day after Columbus beat the Indians 2-0, the Clippers and Indianapolis combined for 21 runs and 26 hits on Saturday night as the Tribe rode a four-hit performance by second baseman Anderson Hernandez to a come-from-behind 12-9 win over their division rivals in front of 11,663 fans at Victory Field.

In a game that saw multiple runs scored in five separate half-innings, the bottom of the sixth proved to be the most vital. With two outs in the frame, C Tony Sanchez drew a walk and advanced to second base on a single by SS Chase d'Arnaud before Hernandez followed with a single of his own, this one to center field.

Sanchez, not the fastest runner on the Indianapolis roster, motored around third base, sliding into home safely just ahead of the throw, barely beating a quick swipe tag by Columbus C Matt Pagnozzi. The run proved to be the game-winner, and Hernandez is now batting .406 with six RBI and five runs scored in his past 10 games.

CF Starling Marte had tied the game at 9-9 with one swing of the bat earlier in the frame, launching his 10th home run of the season over the left-field fence to drive in LF Alex Presley, who had walked, and RF Jose Tabata, who singled.

The Clippers had taken an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, scoring a run without a hit as LF Jason Donald drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and eventually scored on a groudout by DH Vinny Rottino That lead was short-lived, however, as Indianapolis RF Brandon Boggs put the Tribe ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the first with a three-run home run to left, his seventh of the season. The Indians would then go ahead 5-1 on a two-run homer by Sanchez, his fourth of the season.

Columbus rallied in the top of the third inning when Rottino hit a three-run home run to right-center field -- the first hit of the game for the Clippers -- to cut the Indianapolis lead to 5-4. The Indians would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame, however, as Sanchez doubled home Boggs, who had walked and alertly tagged up and advanced to second on a flyball to deep left field.

Columbus stormed out to a 9-6 lead in the top of the fourth, sending 11 men to plate in the inning. RF Russ Canzler led off the frame with a home run to right field, his 13th of the season, and things went downhill from there for Indianapolis. Back-to-back-to-back singles loaded the bases with no outs in the inning, chasing Indians starter Justin Wilson (3.0+ IP, 5 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HR), who was fortunate to end up with a no decision.

Indianapolis got an important out at the plate on a diving stop by 3B Brian Friday and a scoop-and-tag by Sanchez, but a check-swing bloop single off the end of CF Ezequiel Carrera's bat found its way over the drawn-in infield and into shallow left field, scoring 3B Jared Goedert and Pagnozzi and at the time giving Columbus the lead. A sacrifice fly by 1B Matt LaPorta drove in the fifth run of the inning and pushed the lead to 9-6, but Columbus would not score again in the game.

After Wilson exited the game with none out in the fourth inning, five Indianapolis relievers combined for 6.0 innings of one-run relief. Recently reacquired LHP Doug Slaten (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) picked up the win in his first game with the Tribe since May 24, improving to 3-0 for Indianapolis. For Columbus, RHP Dan Wheeler (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR) suffered both a blown save and the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season. Indians RHP Tim Wood (1.0 IP, 1 H) closed out the game with a scoreless ninth to pick up his 13th win of the season for the Tribe.

The Indians picked up a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as Boggs drew a leadoff walk and came all the way around to score on a double by 1B Yamaico Navarro. Navarro then advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single to center field by d'Arnaud to give the game its final 12-9 tally.

With the win, Indianapolis (58-36) extended its lead in the International League West to 11 games over the Clippers (47-47). The division rivals will conclude their five-game series on Sunday afternoon, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:15 p.m. RHP Rick VandenHurk (8-1, 3.47) is expected to take the mound for the Indians, while LHP T.J. McFarland (3-2, 5.23) will likely get the nod for the Clippers.

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 12:55 p.m.

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