IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Marte and Morales Blast Tribe Past Mud Hens 7-6

Published on July 22, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


TOLEDO, Ohio -- Tribe left fielder Starling Marte began the night with a mammoth two-run home run in the top of the first inning, before C Jose Morales came through with a clutch two-out three-run longball in the top of eighth to power the Indianapolis Indians past the Toledo Mud Hens 7-6 on Sunday night at Fifth Third Field.

Sunday night's contest began with a bang as after a one-out single by CF Jose Tabata, Marte connected on a mammoth home run that some believe may not yet have landed. The blast, which was Marte's 12th on the season and put the Tribe ahead 2-0, was approximated by some to possibly have travelled in upwards of 480-500 feet.

Toledo would respond and cut the Indians lead in half on an RBI single by CF Andy Dirks in the bottom of the first, but would see a golden opportunity for a multi-run rally nailed at the plate. After Dirks has connected on his RBI base knock,, DH John Lindsey would step to plate and rope a base hit to left. Despite there being no outs, RF Ben Guez, who had reached on a hit by pitch earlier in the frame, would be sent home where he would be easily gunned down on an perfect throw from Marte.

After making the first out of the frame at the plate the Mud Hens would fail to push across any more scores in the first. The Tribe offense, however, would put another two spot on the board in the top of the second as Morales and 2B Brian Friday collected back-to-back two out singles, before a balk moved them to second and third where SS Anderson Hernandez would bring them both home with a double to right.

The Mud Hens did respond yet again howeer, cutting the Indians' lead to 4-3 with single scores in the bottom of the second and third frames. Toledo used the longball to cut into the deficit as SS Audy Ciriaco and 1B Danny Dorn each connected on solo home runs in the second and third respectively.

Then after both teams were held scoreless over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, the Mud Hens put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to take their first lead of the game. 3B Justin Henry began the rally with a one-out single to left and was quickly brought plateward on a double off the bat of Guez. Lindsey and Dorn then followed with back-to-back two-out base knocks with a double by Lindsey plating Guez before a single by Dorn brought home Lindsey.

Thus, the Indians headed into the eighth trailing for the first time in the contest by the score of 6-4. The suddenly red-hot Matt Hague would, however, lead-off the frame with a base to left for his third hit of the evening.

Then after a strikeout, 3B Yamaico Navarro roped a base hit to center to move Hague to second and set the stage for Morales. The Tribe catcher stepped to plate with two outs and connected on his first home run in an Indianapolis uniform, plating three runs to push the Tribe back out in front by the score of 7-6.

After taking back the lead on Morales' moon shot, the Indians would turn to their 1-2 punch out of the bullpen in relievers Doug Slaten (1.0 IP) and Tim Wood (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO), who would shut the door on the victory with Slaten picking up his sixth hold and Wood notching his 15th save. Fellow Indianapolis reliever Daniel McCutchen (1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) would earn the win to improve to 5-2 on the season, despite suffering his second blown save.

Neither starter figured in the final decision as Indians RHP Daniel Cabrera (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) fought through early trouble to turn in a solid six innings and Toledo LHP Ramon Garcia (5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO) allowed four runs on eight hits over just five frames of work. Mud Hens reliever Jose Ortega (1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) suffered his third blown save and was pinned with the loss to fall to 4-6 on the season.

With the victory the Indians (63-40) even the series at 2-2 and now go in search of the series victory when they take on the Mud Hens in the finale on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. LHP Jeff Locke is expected to take the mound for the Indians, while the Mud Hens are scheduled to counter with LHP Adam Wilk.

The game will 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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Post-game quotes -- C Jose Morales

(On his game-winning three-run home run) "The guy (Toledo reliever Jose Ortega) throws really hard and that was the last thing on my mind. Lucky enough, behind in the count, he threw a pretty good pitch and I put a good swing on it. It was a great team win"

(On Starling Marte's mammoth home run in the first inning) "I have been playing for 12 years and I have never seen a ball hit that far. That has got to be 480-500 feet at least. I have never seen something that huge."

(On Marte throwing out the runner at the plate in the bottom of the first) "We have been having alot of plays at the plate this whole series. He's (Toledo Manager Phil Nevin) the kind of manager that is going to be aggressive and make things happen. Actually it didn't surprise me and so I was ready for a throw and Marte threw a bullet."

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