IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Scranton Stops Streak with 4-0 Win over Tribe

June 24, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Four Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hurlers combined on a seven-hit shutout while designated hitter Jack Cust and right fielder Kevin Russo combined for six hits, three runs and two RBI to lead the Yankees over the Indianapolis Indians 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field, ending the Tribe's season-best seven-game winning streak.

Yankees starter Adam Warren (5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) held the Indians to just five singles over five scoreless innings to earn the win and improve to 5-5 on the season. Following Warren, Yankees relievers Chase Whitely (2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 SO), Juan Cedeno (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) and Ryota Igarashi (1.0 IP, 1 SO) combined for four scoreless frames of relief.

The combined effort was the ninth time a team has shutout the Indians this season and the first since Rochester blanked Indianapolis 2-0 on June 9 at Victory Field. It also ended the Tribe's season-best seven-game winning streak, which tied for the second-longest streak by an Indians team during the Victory Field era (since 1996).

While the Yankees pitching staff held the Indianapolis offense to just seven singles, the Scranton offense powered out to an early advantage and tacked on key insurance tallies on their way to the victory. Scranton got the lead-off runner on-base in each of the first five frames on their way to plating four runs on 10 hits.

C Gustavo Molina began the scoring when he blasted a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to lead off the top of the third inning. The longball for Molina, which was his third on the season and first since May 30, gave the Yankees a 1-0 advantage they would not relinquish.

Scranton would, however, tack on another score later in the third when Russo was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single by LF Ronnier Mustelier and came plateward on a base knock by Cust. The RBI base hit for Cust was just the beginning of an offensive outburst for the Scranton designated hitter.

After Russo led off the fifth with a base hit and eventually scored on a groundout later in the frame, Cust would rip a double off the top of the right-field wall to put runners at second and third, where they would be stranded after Indians starter Jeff Locke escaped further damage by inducing two groundouts.

Cust would not, however, be denied a second RBI in the top of the seventh, when he blasted a mammoth two-out solo shot over the right-field wall to extend the Yankees lead to 4-0. Overall, Cust finished out the afternoon just a triple short of the cycle and has now launched two homers and driven in four in first three games of the series with the Tribe.

Russo also added a ninth-inning base hit to join Cust with three base knocks on the afternoon, having also reached base a fourth time on a hit by pitch. In the three games so far against the Tribe this season, Russo has now collected five hits, scored four runs, drawn a walk and been hit by a pitch.

Tribe starter Jeff Locke (5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) failed to record a strikeout for the first time this season while surrendering eight hits and three runs in just five innings to suffer the loss and fall to 5-4 on the season. Following Locke, Tribe relievers Daniel McCutchen (1.0 IP), Chris Leroux (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) and Jose Diaz (1.0 IP, 1 H) combined to allow only a Cust solo home run over the final four frames.

Despite the defeat, which drops the Tribe record to 46-30, the Indians still maintain a 1.5 game lead for the best record in the International League as the Pawtucket Red Sox fell to the Louisville Bats 2-0. The Tribe and Yankees will now wrap up their series on Monday night at 7:05 p.m. with RHP Daniel Cabrera expected to take the mound for the Indians and the Yankees scheduled to counter with top prospect RHP Dellin Betances.

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-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 6:45 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- 1B Jeff Clement

(On his two hits) "I saw it pretty well today. He didn't leave much over the plate, but I felt like my approach was a lot better today. I haven't felt like I've been staying back real well, and I felt like I was in a lot better rhythm and had better timing today and was able to put the barrel on a couple balls for hits."

(On getting more comfortable at first base) "Every day, I get more comfortable over there. I made a couple errors in Gwinnett and was back on my heels a little bit. Back here, obviously the field speaks for itself. We've got a great field. It enables you to be more aggressive on balls and just go make the routine plays. They had some lefties that were hooking the ball today and it's my job to make the plays and I was able to do that today."

(On what it will take to start another winning streak like the seven-game streak that stopped Sunday) "Take them one day at a time. You can't create a seven-game win streak in one day. Tomorrow, we'll show up ready to play ready to get back on the winning track. We've got a great team. Our starting pitching is good. Every single guy we send out there gives us a chance to win. (Starting pitcher Jeff) Locke didn't have his best stuff today, but he still gave us a chance to win. We just weren't able to get any runs on the board."

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