IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Walk-Off Homer Gives Jewett Win No. 200

July 1, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Shortstop Don Kelly lined a single to right with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Indianapolis an 8-7, walk-off win over Richmond in front of 7,905 Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

The win was Manager Trent Jewett's 200th in Indianapolis. The 16th-year Pittsburgh Pirates employee and 10th-year Triple-A skipper is also just three victories away from No. 900 in his managerial career.

The Indians improve to 46-36 on the season and an International League-best 26-14 at home, while the Braves fall to 45-36 overall and 27-18 on the road. The Tribe, which sat atop the IL's West Division for 69 straight days earlier this season, continues to lead the Wild Card race.

C Carlos Maldonado (3-for-4, 3 R) and SS Brian Bixler (1-for-2) roped back-to-back singles in the home half of the ninth before Kelly's (3-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI) liner to right gave Indianapolis its fourth walk-off victory of 2007.

Richmond fought back from a two-run deficit on three separate occasions. The Braves evened the tilt in the sixth when LF Doug Clark (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) smacked his sixth dinger of the campaign -- a lead-off shot to right.

Indianapolis fired back with a pair of runs in the sixth when Maldonado scored on a throwing error by the Braves shortstop. CF Luis Matos reached second on the miscue and came plateward on Kelly's base knock to left.

Richmond tied the game again in the eighth. RF Larry Bigbie (1-for-1, 1 R, 1 RBI) roped a lead-off single to center before Clark clobbered his second homer of the game and seventh of the year -- a blast over the right-field wall.

The Indians grabbed their third advantage of the afternoon with two runs in the eighth. Matos took a free pass and advanced to second on Kelly's single to center before 3B Russ Johnson (2-for-3, 3 RBI) plated both runners with a two-run double down the left-field line.

It looked as if the two-game series sweep was intact until 2B Martin Prado (3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI) crushed the Braves third roundtripper of the game -- a two-run shot to right -- with two outs in the ninth.

Neither starter -- Indianapolis RHP Kip Bouknight (6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO) or Richmond RHP Blaine Boyer (5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 5 SO) -- figured in the decision. Bouknight was making his first Triple-A start of the season after being promoted from Double-A earlier in the day.

Indianapolis RHP Jonah Bayliss (2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) earned the win in his first Triple-A decision of 2007, while Richmond RHP Manny Acosta (1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) fell to 6-3 with the loss.

Indianapolis opens a brief two-game series at Louisville on Monday at 7:05 p.m. LHP Michael Tejera is slated to start for the Indians, while LHP Bobby Livingston is expected to get the nod for the Bats.

The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m.

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