IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Toledo Takes Down Tribe 6-3

Published on April 12, 2010 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


TOLEDO, Ohio -- Right fielder Brennan Boesch blasted a three-run home run to key a five-run third inning rally and lead the Toledo Mud Hens to a 6-3 series opening victory over the Indianapolis Indians on Monday night at Fifth Third Field.

With the loss the Indians fall to 2-3 on the season, while the win pulls the Mud Hens even with the Tribe with an identical 2-3 mark. The loss gives the Indians their first losing streak of the season after they took the middle two games of their four-game season opening series in Columbus.

After Indianapolis jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning off the hot bat of 1B Steve Pearce, the Mud Hens exploded for five runs on four hits to seal the victory in the following frame.

LF Clete Thomas started the third inning rally with a walk before moving to second on a single up the middle by former Indianapolis Indians' C Robinzon Diaz. 3B Danny Worth then moved Diaz and Thomas to second and third with a groundout, before 2B Wil Rhymes brought home Thomas with an RBI single to right. The base knock for Rhymes was just his second of the season and gave him his first RBI.

SS Brent Dlugach followed Rhymes with an RBI single of his own to set the stage for Boesch, who delivered the inning's biggest blow when he lifted the second pitch of his at-bat over the right field wall for a three-run long ball. The home run was Boesch's first of the season and his first at the Triple-A level after he collected a team-best 28 homers as a member of Double-A Erie last season.

Toledo went on to add an insurance in the fourth, when Thomas drew a one out walk, stole second and came around to score on a single by Worth. The RBI base hit by Worth gave the Mud Hens six runs on the evening, which was half of their total from their season-opening series against Louisville and more than their first, third and fourth games combined.

The Tribe's offense was once again led by Pearce, who posted his fourth multi-hit effort in five games this season and jumped the Indians out to the early lead when he connected on a two-run blast in the second inning for his first home run of the season. The Tribe first baseman also added a single in the fourth to improve his team-best batting average to .476, a mark which also ranks him among the best in the International League.

Traveling along on Pearce's longball, in the second, was 3B Pedro Alvarez, who broke out of an 0-for-10 slump with a single to lead off the frame. The left handed slugger also drew a walk in the fourth and eventually scored the Tribe's third run of the contest on a double play.

In his Triple-A debut, Toledo starter Alfredo Figaro (5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) earned the victory, despite allowing all three Tribe runs on six hits over five innings of work. The Mud Hens' bullpen was nearly perfect as RHP Scot Druker (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO), LHP Jason Waddell (1.0 IP, 1 SO) and RHP Jay Sborz (1.0 IP, 1 SO) combined to allow just one base runner and strike out four over four innings of masterful relief work. Druker and Waddell each earned their first hold of the season, while Sborz notched his second save.

The Indians also received excellent effort out of their bullpen as RHP Jeff Karstens (4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO) allowed just two hits over four innings in relief of starter Jeremy Powell (4.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO), who allowed all six Toledo runs and suffered the loss to drop to 0-2.

With the excellent relief work on display for both sides in Monday evening's contest, only three players managed multiple hits; Pearce (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI) for Indianapolis, Rhymes (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) for Toledo and Dlugach (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) for Toledo.

The two teams wrap up their short two-game series on Tuesday April 13 at 6:30 p.m. RHP Brian Bass is expected to get the call for Indianapolis, while RHP Ruddy Lugo is the probable starter 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 6:10 p.m.

Post-game quotes -- 1B Steve Pearce

(on his second inning two-run home run)

"I had a feeling the pitch was going to be on the inner half of the plate. I picked up on something and zoned in on the inside corner and sure enough it was there."

(on his teammate Neil Walker's move to second base)

"He looks solid, not at all like a first year guy at that position. He works hard in practice and he made some good plays tonight."

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from April 12, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central