IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Yankees Walk off 9-8 in 10 against Indians

Published on August 4, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


ROCHESTER, N.Y. --Scranton/Wilkes-Barre left fielder Chris Dickeron lifted a sacrifice fly into center field in the bottom of the 10th inning on Saturday night, scoring CF Melky Mesa with the game-winning run as the Triple-A Yankees beat the Indianapolis Indians 9-8 at Frontier Field.

It's not often a baseball player gets the chance to secure a walkoff win in a road park, but that's just what Dickerson did late Saturday night as Scranton is playing its "home" games in Rochester, N.Y., this season as PNC Field undergoes a massive facelift.

Prior to Dickeron's game-winner, a throwing error allowed the game-tying run to score as RF Darnell McDonald reached safely and C Francisco Cervelli scored to make it 8-8. Indianapolis had taken an 8-7 lead in the top of the 10th inning on SS Chase d'Arnaud's RBI single.

RHP Tim Wood (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) took the loss for the Indians, his fifth, while also suffering his sixth blown save of the season. RHP Ryota Igarashi (2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB) picked up his third win of the season for Scranton despite allowing the Tribe's tenth-inning go-ahead run.

Indianapolis had taken an early 3-0 lead, scoring the first run of the ballgame in the top of the second when 3B Yamaico Navarro doubled home DH Jeff Clement. Clement then extended the early advantage with a two-out, two-run double -- his 33rd of the season, which ranks second in the International League.

Scranton came back to tie the game with a three-run fourth inning. With the bases loaded, 3B Brandon Laird drew a run-scoring walk to cut into the Indianapolis lead, dashing the Tribe's hopes for a second-straight shutout. After a wild pitch allowed SS Eduardo Nunez to race home, C Francisco Cervelli hit a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the game and chase Indians starter Justin Wilson.

Wilson (3.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) had faced the minimum through three innings despite a pair of walks but gave way to RHP Bryan Morris with one on and two out in the fourth. Morris (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR) induced a popout to end the inning and went on to pitch effectively into the seventh inning, allowing just one run on a solo home run by Scranton CF Melky Mesa.

Prior to Mesa's homer -- his first of the season -- the Indians scored a lone run in each of the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, 1B Matt Hague grounded into an RBI fielders choice and, in the sixth, 2B Anderson Hernandez hit an RBI groundout, at the time putting Indianapolis ahead 5-3.

The Tribe scored a pair of would-be insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning as CF Jose Tabata drove in two runs with his third hit of the ballgame. During a seven-game hitting streak, Tabata is batting .538 (14-for-26) with a double, six RBI and five runs scored.

Those insurance runs -- and the Indianapolis lead -- would be erased in the bottom half of the eighth, however, as the Triple-A Yankees scored three runs to tie the game at 7-7. Laird again cut into the Tribe's advantage, this time with an RBI double to center field. After an RBI single by Mesa, Laird then scored the game-tying run on an RBI groundout by 1B Kosuke Fukudome.

Looking to avoid a split, the Indians are expected to send RHP Rick VandenHurk (10-3, 3.40) to the mound in Sunday's series finale, which is scheduled to start at 6:05 p.m. The Yankees, meanwhile, will likely counter with RHP Ramon Ortiz (9-4, 3.16) in what promises on paper to be a stellar pitching matchup.

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 5:45 p.m.

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International League Stories from August 4, 2012


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