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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Sweep Away Louisville with 4-2 Win

August 24, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Left-handed starter Jeff Locke showed that Indianapolis has no plans of slowing down after winning the International League West Division championship, tossing six scoreless innings on Friday night to lead the Indians to a 4-2 win and a three-game sweep of the Louisville Bats in front of 13,095 fans at Victory Field.

A day after securing the IL West title, the Tribe showed no signs of the proverbial post-clinch hangover. Locke (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) set the tone for Indianapolis, scattering four hits while striking out six Bats and even contributed at the plate, laying down a pair of well-executed sacrifice bunts.

Locke, who picked up his 10th win of the season, came into the game with a 2.68 ERA, which ranked as the fourth-lowest in the league. His 124 total strikeouts after Friday's win moved him into the top five in the IL as well.

The Bats finally got on the board in the top of the eighth inning when 2B Chris Valaika doubled home PH Felix Perez and then scored on an RBI single by 1B Neftali Soto. By then, however, Indianapolis had provided all of the offense necessary complete the sweep.

The Tribe scored two runs in the top of the second inning to take an early lead. After RF Dallas McPherson led off the frame with a single, LF Brandon Boggs doubled to left field to drive in the first run of the game. It was Boggs' 24th double of the season and second in his past six games.

Boggs then moved to third when 3B Anderson Hernandez singled on a groundball up the middle. When the ball was misplayed by the Louisville second base and rolled into shallow center field, Boggs raced home to put Indianapolis ahead 2-0.

McPherson then provided the game-winning advantage in the fifth inning with a mammoth home run that disappeared into the right-field corner of the stadium, also scoring 2B Brock Holt, who had singled for his third hit of the ballgame.

It was the second home run for McPherson in just 10 games with the Tribe. In 61 games for the Charlotte Knights this season, McPherson had 12 home runs.

Holt has been even hotter for Indianapolis since he was promoted from Double-A Altoona. Despite having a 10-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday, Holt is now batting exactly .400 (26-for-65) in 17 games with the Tribe.

Handed a two-run lead, recently-optioned RHP Daniel McCutchen -- who drove from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis on Thursday in hopes of being a part of the division title celebration -- tossed a perfect ninth inning to close out the sweep. McCutchen (1.0 IP, 1 K) ended the game emphatically, recording a looking strikeout to earn his second save for the Tribe.

For Louisville, RHP Pedro Villarreal (5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR) allowed all four Indianapolis runs and was saddled with his 11th loss of the season. RHPs Jordan Smith (2.0 IP, 1 H) and Nick Christiani (1.0 IP, 2 K) combined for three innings of perfect relief, but it proved too little too late for the Bats.

The Indians will now begin a three-game series with the Columbus Clippers on Saturday night. Indianapolis is expected to send RHP Kyle McPherson (0-1, 1.59) to the mound for the contest's 7:05 p.m. first pitch, while Columbus will likely counter with LHP David Huff (6-6, 5.05).

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 6:55 p.m.

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