Richard's dinger gives Tribe 2-0 win over Barons
Published on May 23, 2006 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
SCRANTON, Pa. -- Left-hander Sean Burnett fired five scoreless innings, while first baseman Chris Richard crushed a two-run homer in the top of the fourth as Indianapolis posted a 2-0 victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Tuesday evening at Lackawanna County Stadium.
The Indians, who now lead the International League's West Division by five games over Toledo, improve to 25-19 overall and 13-7 on the road. The Red Barons, who remain 1/2 game back of Rochester in the IL North, fall to 26-19 on the season.
Four hurlers combined for the Tribe's sixth shutout of the season. Burnett (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) picked up the win to even his season record at 3-3. RHP Terry Adams (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) and RHP Scott Strickland (1.0 IP) were credited with holds, while LHP C.J. Nitkowski (1.0 IP, 1 H, 3 SO) notched his third save of the campaign.
Strickland extended his team-best scoreless innings streak to 25.0. The Indians bullpen has now turned in a 2.12 ERA in its past 25 affairs (21 ER in 89.1 IP), while limiting opponents to a .208 batting average (66-for-318) during that same stretch.
Tribe 3B Jason Alfaro got things rolling with a one-out single in the fourth. Richard followed with his second roundtripper of the campaign -- a towering shot which cleared the right-field wall by over 30 feet.
Richard and SS J.J. Furmaniak each went 2-for-4 on the night. Indians LF Raul Gonzalez registered a 1-for-4 performance and has now reached base safely in 26 of his last 28 affairs.
Indianapolis, which entered the contest second in the IL with a .984 fielding percentage, recorded its 27th errorless game of the young season.
3B Brennan King led Scranton/W-B by going 2-for-4 in the contest. Red Barons LHP Matt White (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) was pinned with the loss, falling to 2-5.
Indianapolis has already opened the 2006 campaign with three consecutive winning road trips. The Indians went 4-3 on their season-opening trip (2-2 at PAW, 2-1 at OTT), 4-1 on their second trip (2-0 at LOU, 1-0 at COL, 1-1 at TOL) and 4-3 on their third trip (2-1 at DUR, 2-2 at CHR).
The two teams return to Lackawanna County Stadium Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., for game two of the four-game series. LHP Tom Gorzelanny is scheduled to start for the Indians, while LHP Brian Mazone is expected to get the nod for the Red Barons.
The game will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com as Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley have the call. Wednesday's pre-game show begins at 10:40 a.m.
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