IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Johnson Tosses Six Scoreless As Tribe Gains Series Sweep

Published on June 20, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


NORFOLK, Va. -- Tribe starter Kris Johnson tossed six scoreless innings, while the red-hot duo of second baseman Josh Harrison and catcher Tony Sanchez provided all the offense the Indianapolis Indians (50-25) needed to gain a four-game series sweep of the Norfolk Tides (38-36) with a 2-1 win on Thursday morning at Harbor Park. With the victory the Indians are now a Minor League baseball best 50-25 on the season.

Following a doubleheader that lasted late into the night on Wednesday, the Indians and Tides woke up early for some day baseball on Thursday morning. In a pitcher's duel the Indians took an early lead and held on late to earn the win and sweep away the Tides in Norfolk.

Indianapolis starter Kris Johnson (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) turned in another fantastic effort, allowing just four hits while striking out five over 6.0 scoreless inning of work to earn the win and improve to 6-3 on the season. After a short but successful run in the Tribe bullpen, Johnson has now turned in back-to-back stellar starts for the Indians, surrendering just a single score while striking eight over 12 innings combined between his last two outings in Durham and Norfolk.

With effort on Thursday, Johnson also lowered his ERA to 2.82, which at the time ranks as the fourth best among all qualified pitchers in the International League.

Johnson received just enough support to earn his team-best sixth win as the usual suspects yet again came through for the Indians offensively. Both C Tony Sanchez and INF Josh Harrison entered Thursday mornings' contest with eight-game hitting streaks and both extended their streaks at key moments for the Tribe.

After 1B Matt Hague drew his first of three walks on the day with two outs in the top of the third, 3B Jared Goedert lined a base hit to left to advance Hague to second. Sanchez then stepped to the plate and roped a single to center to bring home Hague for the first run of the contest.

With his base knock, Sanchez extended his hitting streak to nine straight games during which he is batting .333 (11-for-33) with seven runs, four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI.

Not to be outdone, Harrison sparked the Tribe's second scoring rally of the day by laying down a bunt base hit to lead-off the top of the fifth. After a walk to Hague later in the frame advanced Harrison to second, the Indians' speedster swiped his 18th base of the season to move up to third. This proved to be a key play as Goedert followed with a sacrifice fly to left that brought home Harrison for what turned out to be the game-winning tally.

With his infield base knock, Harrison has now hit safely in nine straight contests over which he batting .350 (14-for-40) with seven runs, four RBI and two steals.

Norfolk did not go away quietly on Thursday morning, though, as they mounted a comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth. DH L. J. Hoes led off with a base hit before SS Brandon Wood and C Luis Exposito followed with singles of their own to bring home Hoes and cut the Tribe lead to 2-1.

This unfortunately, forced Tribe reliever Tim Alderson (2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO), who turned in an excellent effort out of the Indianapolis bullpen, from the game. Into the contest came veteran reliever Jose Contreras (0.1 IP, 1 SO), who struck out CF Xavier Avery with runners on second and third and two out to nail down the Tribe victory and his first save of the season.

Norfolk starter Josh Stinston (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO) allowed both Indians' scores and suffered the loss to fall to 3-4 on the season.

Indianapolis will now return home to kick-off an 11-game homestand starting on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. against the Charlotte Knights, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. RHP James McDonald (1-2, 6.75 ERA) is scheduled to make another rehab start for the Tribe, while the Knights are expected to counter with RHP Michael Nix (1-0, 5.40 ERA).

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, 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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International League Stories from June 20, 2013


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