Indians use long ball to defeat Knights 7-2
Published on August 18, 2007 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
FORT MILL, S.C. -- Designated hitter Jose Hernandez and first baseman Brad Eldred combined for two homers, three runs and six RBI as Indianapolis registered a 7-2 win over Charlotte in front of 8,169 Saturday evening at Knights Stadium.
The Indians improve to 65-61 overall and 30-34 on the road, while the Knights fall to 55-73 on the season and 32-33 at home. Sunday will be the Tribe's 272nd consecutive day with a record of .500 or better.
Indianapolis pulls to within 4.5 games of Durham in the International League's Wild Card race. Meanwhile, Toledo (IL West by 7.5 games), Richmond (South by 1.0) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (North by 4.0) continue to lead their respective divisions.
Indianapolis cracked the run column in the third when 2B Yurendell de Caster drew a lead-off base on balls and eventually scored on SS Brian Bixler's RBI groundout.
The Indians added to their advantage in the fifth when Eldred crushed his 14th Triple-A roundtripper of the campaign -- a two-run shot to left. The blast came after Hernandez reached on a fielding error.
The Tribe opened up plenty of breathing room in the eighth when Hernandez launched his 11th roundtripper of the season -- a grand slam to left center. The bomb came after CF Andrew McCutchen roped a lead-off double, and LF Michael Ryan and 3B Neil Walker both accepted walks.
Charlotte scored its lone run of the night in the fifth when RF Thomas Collaro (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) whacked his first Triple-A long ball of 2007 -- a solo shot to left.
Indians LHP Michael Tejera (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) earned the win, improving to 8-3. Knights RHP Charlie Haeger (7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) suffered the loss, falling to 5-14.
RHP Brian Rogers (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) and LHP Juan Perez (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) combined for three scoreless frames out of the Indianapolis bullpen. The Tribe relievers have not allowed a run over their last five outings (15.1 IP).
The teams wrap up their brief two-game series on Sunday at 2:15 p.m. RHP Marty McLeary is scheduled to start for the Indians, while LHP Heath Phillips is expected to get the nod for the Knights.
The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 1:55 p.m.
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