IL1 Indianapolis Indians

IronPigs Sweep Away Tribe 3-2

Published on July 22, 2010 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- The Lehigh Valley pitching staff combined to strike out an Indians' opponent season-high 16 batters with former Tribe starter Brandon Duckworth fanning 11 and holding Indianapolis to just two runs on three hits over 5.2 innings to lead the IronPigs to a 3-2 victory and a four-game series sweep on Thursday night at Victory Field.

The loss for Indianapolis drops their record to an even 50-50 on the season, while Lehigh Valley improves to 42-57 with the victory. The win for the IronPigs gives them the four-game series sweep over the Tribe and wraps up the season series at 6-2 in favor of Lehigh Valley.

Duckworth (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 11 SO), who posted an 8-3 record and a 2.42 ERA for the Indians in 2006, struck out an Indians' single opponent season-high 11 to earn the victory and improve to 5-3 on the season. Following Duckworth's dominant outing, the IronPigs' bullpen was even more untouchable as RHP Michael Stutes (1.1 IP, 1 SO), LHP Antonio Bastardo (1.0 IP, 2 SO) and RHP Scott Mathieson (1.0 IP, 2 SO) combined for 3.1 innings of perfect relief with Stutes and Bastardo each earning their third hold of the season and Mathieson notching his team-best 19th save.

Lehigh Valley jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with two tallies in the first as another former Indians' player, OF Chris Duffy, led off the frame with a sharp single to left, and, after moving to second on a base hit by 2B Ozzie Chavez, came around to score on a clutch two-out base knock by 3B Neil Sellers. 1B Paul Hoover then followed Sellers with another two-out base knock to score Chavez and give the IronPigs a 2-0 advantage.

Though they collected just three hits, the Indians did manage to even the score at 2-2 with single tallies in the first and third. LF Kevin Melillo, who collected two of the Indians three hits, started the scoring when he led off the first with a double and eventually came around to score on a groundout by CF Alex Presley.

2B Akinori Iwamura then evened the score when he blasted a home run to straight away center field with two outs in the third inning. The longball for Iwamura was his second in an Indians' uniform this season and first at Victory Field.

However, RF John Mayberry Jr. would single-handedly push the IronPigs ahead with a single score in the top of the fifth. After lining a one-out double to left, Mayberry stole third and then scored what turned out to be the game-winning tally when he trotted home on an Indians' wild pitch.

Tribe starter Charlie Morton (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 2-4 on the season despite allowing just three runs and scattering seven hits over six innings of work. The Indians' bullpen was a bright spot on the evening as RHP Brian Bass (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) allowed just one hit and struck out four over two innings of scoreless work and LHP Wil Ledezma (1.0 IP, 2 SO) struck out two in a perfect ninth to lower his ERA to a miniscule 0.96 (4 ER in 37.1 IP).

Indianapolis now begins a four-game series with the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox on Friday, July 23 at 7:15 p.m. RHP Mike Crotta is expected to get the call for the Indians, while RHP Brandon Hynick is the probable starter for the Knights.

The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and broadcast live on Comcast and Bright House Networks digital channel 81 with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show on WXLW-950 AM begins at 6:55 p.m.

Post-game quotes -- OF Kevin Melillo

(on his eight-game hitting streak)

"I just think it's aggression. I've been aggressive at the plate. I know I'm a leadoff hitter and I'm supposed to see a lot of pitches and do some of the scout work for the guys behind me, but lately I've been swinging early and swinging at the first pitch fastballs that I had been taking. It's really been working out for me."

(on the team's four straight losses)

"At this point in the season, every game is crucial. It looks like Columbus is going to win our division and we're trying to make up ground in the wild card. If we start dropping games like this in late July, it makes this stretch of games in August really tough. We've got an uphill battle and need to take care of Charlotte these next four."

(on the team's chase for the Wild Card)

"These are the teams we're fighting with. It's Syracuse, Charlotte, us and Buffalo fighting for that wild card spot. We have eight games coming up, four against Charlotte and four against Syracuse. If we can win both of these series and gain some momentum to last us the last month, I think it'll put us in a good position."

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International League Stories from July 22, 2010


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