IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Oliver Shuts Down Indians 4-2

April 12, 2011 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Left hander Andy Oliver struck out eight and allowed just three hits over six innings of work to earn his first victory of the season and lead the Toledo Mud Hens to a series split with a 4-2 win over the Indianapolis Indians on Tuesday afternoon at Victory Field.

With the victory Toledo earns a 1-1 series split and improves their record to 2-4, one game ahead of the Indians, who fall to 1-5 with the loss.

Oliver (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO), rated by Baseball America as the Detroit Tigers' number three prospect prior to the season, struck out at least one batter in every inning between the second and sixth on his way to earning his first victory of the season. The only mark against the southpaw came in the fifth inning with Tribe third baseman Josh Harrison put an Oliver offering over the wall in left for a solo home run.

Harrison's longball was one of just five base knocks on the afternoon for the Indians, as following Oliver's excellent outing Mud Hens relievers Fu-Te Ni and Zach Simons combined to hold the Tribe to one unearned run on just two hits over three innings of excellent relief. Ni (2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) struck out three over 2.2 innings of work to earn his first hold of the season, while Simons (0.1 IP) retired the final batter of the contest to notch his first save.

For the sixth straight contest to begin the season, an Indians opponent got on the board first with Toledo continuing the trend by powering ahead with solo home runs in the second and fifth frames. LF Scott Thorman kicked off the scoring when he launched a one-out solo blast to right field in the second, before Clete Thomas connected on his second solo homer in as many nights with one down in the fifth.

After Harrison's solo blast drew the Tribe to with-in one at 2-1, the Mud Hens plated two important insurance runs in the top of the sixth sparked by 2B Scott Sizemore, who drew a lead-off walk, stole second and came plateward on a clutch two-out single by 1B Ryan Strieby. Thorman followed with a base hit of his own to move Strieby to second, before a walk to SS Cale Iorg pushed Strieby to third where he would later trot home on an Indians miscue.

Indianapolis got a gift of their own in the eighth when after a two-out walk, CF Gorkys Hernandez would come around to score when Toledo committed an error on a single by SS Chase d'Arnaud. Along with Thorman (2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI) for the Mud Hens, d'Arnaud (2-for-4) was the only other batter to collect multiple base knocks on the afternoon.

The Indians' bullpen was a bright spot on the sunny afternoon as relievers Tony Watson (1.1 IP, 1 H,, 1 SO), Joe Beimel (1.0 IP, 1 SO) and RHP Tim Wood (1.0 IP) combined to allow just one hit and no walks over 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. Tribe starter Brian Burres (5.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 after surrendering all four Mud Hens runs on four hits over 5.2 innings of work.

The Indians welcome the Louisville Bats for a three game set starting Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at Victory Field. RHP Matt Klinker is scheduled to start the series opener for Louisville, while Indianapolis is expected to counter with LHP Justin Wilson.

The contest will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones, while also being broadcast live on Comcast and Bright House Networks digital channel 81 with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m.

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