The Mud Hens Third Baseman Smashes His First Two Triple-A Homers
Published on July 29, 2008 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Third baseman Kody Kirkland belted his first two Triple-A home runs and Toledo posted a 5-3 victory over Indianapolis in front of 9,016 Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field.
The Mud Hens improve to 61-50 overall and 32-25 at home, while the Indians fall to 51-60 on the season and 23-29 on the road. Toledo is now 26-9 against Indianapolis in games at Fifth Third Field over the past four years.
Kirkland cleared the left-field wall with solo blasts in both the second and fourth innings. The seventh-year professional, who was taken by the Pirates in the 30th round of the 2001 draft, entered the contest just 7-for-39 (.179) in 10 career Triple-A contests.
Toledo also plated runs in the first and third frames. CF Clete Thomas singled to center and eventually scored on DH Timo Perez's double to right in the first. Thomas then walked and eventually trotted to the dish on Perez's two-bagger to right in the third.
The Mud Hens added an insurance run in the eighth when RF Brent Clevlen tagged a triple to right and scored on 1B Jeff Larish's base knock to right.
Kirkland (2-for-2, 2 R, 2 RBI), Thomas (2-for-3, 2 R) and Perez (2-for-4, 2 RBI) all registered multi-hit efforts for Toledo.
An RBI double by SS Josh Wilson and sacrifice fly by 3B Matt Kata cut the Tribe's deficit to one in the seventh, but the Mud Hens bullpen came through with scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to preserve the victory.
Toledo RHP Chris Lambert (7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) improved to 11-6 with the win, while LHP Clay Rapada (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) notched his first save of the season.
RHP Ross Ohlendorf (6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO), who was acquired from the Yankees organization in a recent trade, was pinned with the loss in his Indians debut. He is now 1-2 at the Triple-A level this season.
The teams continue their three-game series on Wednesday at 7 p.m. LHP Tom Gorzelanny is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Yorman Bazardo is expected to get the nod for Toledo.
The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 6:40 p.m.
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Post-game quotes -- RHP Ross Ohlendorf
(on his longest outing in 31 appearances this season) "You always feel more comfortable after that first appearance is out of the way. I didn't want to give up four runs and seven hits tonight, but there are parts of my performance that I was happy with. My splitter is coming along so that's a bright spot heading into the next start."
(on the last week being so hectic with the trade) "I've been through a lot this past week, but that's part of the game. I felt pretty good on the mound tonight. The bullpen was a little different than what I'm used to, but everything was OK once I got to the game mound."
International League Stories from July 29, 2008
- Tides fall to Pigs - Norfolk Tides
- Bulls outdone in Bisons - Durham Bulls
- Bats Take First Game from Knights - Charlotte Knights
- Braves outdone by Clippers - Gwinnett Stripers
- The Mud Hens Third Baseman Smashes His First Two Triple-A Homers - Indianapolis Indians
- RHP Anthony Reyes Activated to Bisons, Starting Tonight - Buffalo Bisons
- Bisons Notes - Buffalo Bisons
- Hens Going For 4th Winning Season - Toledo Mud Hens
- Win Free Gas for a Year - Charlotte Knights
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