IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Tribe Racks up 6-3 Victory Over Red Wings

Published on May 13, 2009 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Center fielder Andrew McCutchen and shortstop Brian Bixler combined to go 4-for-8 and score five of the Tribe's six runs as the Indianapolis Indians powered past the Rochester Red Wings 6-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Frontier Field.

With the win the Indians improve to 14-18 overall and 8-7 on the road, while the loss drops the Red Wings to 17-14 on the season and 10-7 at home. The win by Indianapolis ends Rochester's International League best five-game winning streak and pulls the season series even at three games apiece.

Twos were wild for the Tribe in game two of the series against Rochester, as they plated two runs in three separate innings, and saw their first two hitters (McCutchen and Bixler) combine to drive in two runs, draw two walks and steal two bases. McCutchen also collected two doubles, while Bixler scored two runs, and Indians starter Daniel McCutchen improved to 2-2 with the victory.

McCutchen and Bixler also got things rolling right off the bat for the Indians as they belted back-to-back doubles to lead off the game. McCutchen would come plateward on Bixler's two-bagger, before Bixler trotted home on an RBI single by 1B Steve Pearce that gave the Tribe an early 2-0 lead.

Then after Rochester retook the lead with two runs in the second and one in the fourth, Andrew McCutchen evened the score in the fifth inning by driving in 2B Shelby Ford with his second double of the game. McCutchen then trotted home on a clutch two-out single by LF Jeff Salazar that gave the Tribe the lead for good at 4-3.

Salazar later provided some important insurance runs with a two-run single in the seventh that plated Andrew McCutchen and Bixler, who led off the frame with a single and walk and moved into scoring position by way of a double steal. Salazar also added a swipe of his own, stealing second base later in the seventh inning to increase his team leading stolen base total to 10.

After allowing two runs in the first inning, Indians starter Daniel McCutchen (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) settled down and went six strong innings to pick up the win and improve to 2-2 on the season. Tribe reliever Juan Mateo (3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 SO) took over for McCutchen and tossed three scoreless innings to collect his fourth save of the season.

Andrew McCutchen (3-for-4, 3 R, 1 RBI), Salazar (2-for-5, 3 RBI) and Pearce (2-for-3, 1 RBI) all collected multiple hits for the Tribe, while 2B Alexi Casilla (2-for-4, 1 R) and SS Trevor Plouffe (2-for-4, 1 RBI) managed multiple base knocks for the Red Wings.

CF Jason Pridie and Casilla led off the bottom of the first for Rochester with back-to-back singles and later scored on an RBI groundout by DH Justin Huber and an RBI single by LF Dustin Martin. Casilla has now hit safely in all six games he has played with the Red Wings this season (.461, 12-for-26), while the base knock for Martin extended his current hitting streak to 11 games, during which time the outfielder has batted .333 (15-for-45) with 10 runs and five RBI.

Though Rochester would retake the lead by way of an RBI single by Plouffe in the fourth, they were unable to hold onto the lead and unable to mount another late inning rally and went on to drop their first game since May 7 at Louisville.

Red Wings starter Brian Duensing (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) allowed four runs in five innings of work and was charged with the loss to drop to 2-2 on the season.

Indianapolis continues their four game series with Rochester on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. RHP Virgil Vasquez is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Jason Jones is expected to get the nod for the Red Wings.

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 6:45 p.m.

Post-game quotes - CF Andrew McCutchen

(on the effect of being sore from Tuesday's game) "If my leg wasn't sore I believe today's doubles would have been triples. I mean the first double I think should have been a triple, but I just couldn't air it out. Hey I'll still take the doubles though."

(on putting Tuesday night's late-inning loss behind and coming out strong on Wednesday) "We have been pretty solid the past few games and today felt good. We hit the ball well it just happened that things didn't go our way last game. We did hit the ball well again today and scored early and were able to keep putting up runs. That's what we need to do to win and that is what we did today, it feels really good to get this win."

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