IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Walk Off 5-4 in 10th against Braves

July 20, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Pinch hitter Eric Fryer delivered a walkoff single in the bottom of the tenth inning on early Friday morning, sending the Indianapolis Indians to a 5-4 win over the Gwinnett Braves at Victory Field.

A few minutes after the clock had struck midnight, Fryer's single hit off the glove of the lunging Gwinnett third baseman and scooted into left field, scoring 3B Matt Hague with the game-winning run in an early-morning tenth inning. Hague was standing on third base after leading off the inning with his ninth double of the season and advancing to third on a single by 1B Jeff Clement. An intentional walk to LF Yamaico Navarro loaded the bases with none out to set the stage for Fryer's heroics.

Indianapolis had tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning when SS Chase d'Arnaud smacked a two-out double to center field -- his second of the game and 18th of the season -- driving in PH Jose Tabata, who had singled, stolen second and advanced to third on a groundout. Up next, CF Starling Marte hit a drive into deep right that would have easily scored d'Arnaud for a walkoff win, but Gwinnett RF Jordan Parraz made a sensational tumbling catch against the wall to send the game to extra innings.

The start of the game was delayed nearly two hours by rain. After a dry spell of over a month took its toll on downtown Indianapolis, the Indians and Braves endured a combined four hours and five minutes of rain delays across Wednesday and Thursday.

Overshadowed by the Indians win was the performance of Gwinnett starter Julio Teheran (6.0 IP, 6 h, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR), who showed flashes of the brilliance that led him to being named the International League's Pitcher of the Year in 2011. Early on, however, Indians starter Justin Wilson (4.0 IP. 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HR) appeared to be on his way to a better start than Teheran, striking out the first four batters of the ballgame while throwing a pair of perfect frames in the first and second. Conversley, Teheran allowed first-inning singles to Indianapolis Hague and Clement and hit C Tony Sanchez with a pitch in the second but escaped both innings unscathed.

Gwinnett figured out Wilson in a big way in the top of the third inning, providing Teheran with four runs of support. 3B Ruben Gotay drew a leadoff walk in the frame, becoming the first baserunner against Wilson. After a strikeout and a sacrifice bunt, Gotay advanced to third on a single down the left-field line by CF Jose Constanza.

With two on and two outs, Braves SS Josh Wilson lifted a two-run triple to the left-center-field gap, putting the Braves ahead 2-0. In the four-game series against his former team, Wilson went 9-for-18 (.500) with four runs scored, four doubles, two triples, a home run and nine RBI. Wilson promptly scored on a long home run that landed near the top of the seating berm beyond the 418-foot fence in left-center-field, putting Gwinnett ahead 4-0.

Wilson would last just one more inning but was saved from a loss when the teammates tied the score in the ninth. Teheran, on the other hand, would stave off a pair of Indianapolis rallies but was also saddled with a no decision.

The first such rally came in the bottom of the third inning, immediately after his teammates had staked Teheran to a 4-0 lead. Indianapolis SS Chase d'Arnaud led off the frame with his 17th double of the season before advancing to third base on a balk. d'Arnaud then scored on a one-out, RBI groundout by Hague to cut the Gwinnett lead to 4-1, but Teheran induced a flyout to end the inning.

The young right-hander worked out of trouble again in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Clement led off the frame with a single to right, Navarro launched his fifth home run of the season over the left-field fence to pull Indianapolis within a run at 4-3. However, with still no one out in the inning, Teheran buckled down and induced a flyout, a lineout and a popout to kill that rally.

Picking up the slack for Wilson, RHPs Daniel McCutchen (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 K), Duke Welker (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) and Evan Meek (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) combined for six scoreless innings as Meek picked up his third win of the season. For Gwinnett, LHP Cole McCurry (0.0+ IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB) took the loss without recording an out in his second appearance of the season for Gwinnett.

Indianapolis hits the road on Friday when they begin a four-day, five-game series with the division-rival Mud Hens in Toledo at 7 p.m. The Tribe will likely send RHP Rick VandenHurk (9-1, 3.43) to the mound, while Toledo is expected to counter with RHP Brooks Brown (1-3, 5.18).

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 6:40 p.m.

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