Vasquez Shuts Down Tribe, Leads Rochester to 6-2 Win
August 15, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. --Right-handed starter Esmerling Vasquez stymied the Indianapolis offense for seven scoreless innings on Wednesday night at Frontier Field, striking out 10 Indians en route to earning his eighth win of the season as the Rochester Red Wings rolled to a 6-2 victory.
Vasquez (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) kept the Indians off balance for the entirety of his outing, allowing just four hits and two walks. His 10 strikeouts set a new season-high; he had struck out seven opponents on three occasions coming into Wednesday's start.
It was a far cry from Vasquez's most recent outing against Indianapolis, when on June 12 at Victory Field he took the loss out of the bullpen, allowing two earned runs on two hits, four walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches.
Indianapolis 1B Matt Hague ended a would-be shutout in the top of the ninth inning when his one-out, two-run home run also scored RF Jose Tabata, who had singled to lead off the frame.The Indians have now scored three runs in the ninth inning of the first two games of the series while being shutout across both games' first eight innings.
It was Hague's third home run of the season and second hit of the game. 2B Brock Holt also produced a two-hit game for the Indians and has now collected 11 hits in eight games since his promotion to Triple-A on August 7.
While Hague's home run was a good sign for the slumping slugger, it was too little too late for the Tribe. Vasquez's teammates jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when CF Clete Thomas doubled home 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka and 1B Chris Parmelee.
Nishioka had singled to lead off the ballgame, immediately quashing any ideas of back-to-back no-hitters from LHP Justin Wilson, who on August 9 no-hit the Charlotte Knights at Victory Field in a rain-shorten, eight-inning gem. Wilson (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) eventually took the loss in the contest, his sixth of the season.
Rochester DH Evan Bigley delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning when he launched his third home run of the season over the left-field fence. The longball also scored LF Wilkin Ramirez and 3B Eduardo Escobar, extending the lead to 5-0 at the time. The Red Wings added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Ramirez hit a two-out double to left that drove in Thomas.
For the second straight day, Indianapolis lowered its magic number for clinching a playoff berth. With Columbus' 9-7 loss to Durham, the Tribe's magic number now sits at 10.
Looking to right the ship, Indianapolis is expected to send RHP Chris Leroux (2-0, 1.93) to the mound for Thursday's 7:05 p.m. game three. The Red Wings, meanwhile, will likely start RHP Liam Hendriks (9-2, 1.99), who was stellar against the Indians on June 9 at Victory Field, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 10 across 8.2 shutout innings.
The game will 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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