Monthly Archives: April, 2010

The rain that had been threatening in Indianapolis all afternoon finally started around 5 pm, and by 7 pm was coming down in earnest. �The game between the Indianapolis Indians and the Louisville Bats was postponed, and will be played on July 5th as part of a double-header. �This game was to have been the final game of this home stand. �The Tribe will head down I-65 to Louisville for two games, then will go east for 4 games in Pawtucket and 4 games in Lehigh Valley.

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In other news -- SS Argenis Diaz was optioned back to the Indians, and was in tonight's starting lineup, at least until the game got called.

P Chris Jakubauskas got�the nod for the Pirates tonight in Houston, but his start was cut short. �Jakubauskas had given up a lead-off single to Michael Bourne, then got two outs. �Then Astros 1B Lance Berkman took a 1-0 pitch right back at the mound, hitting Jakubauskas on the back of the head. �Jakubauskas was able to walk a few steps to the cart that took him off the field, and was taken to a Houston hospital to stay overnight for further evaluation.

OF Jonathan Van Every (photo) was traded to the Boston Red Sox today, for a player to be named later. �The Red Sox needed some outfield help, and Van Every will be joining the major league team. �He had appeared in 10 games for the Indians, and was hitting .314 (11-for-35), with 2 doubles, 2 homers, and 4 RBI. �Van Every had been in the Red Sox organization in 2008 and 2009, playing for AAA Pawtucket for most of that time. �He played in a total of 18 games for the major league team over those two years, hitting .286 (8-for-26) with a triple, a homer, and 8 RBI. �update: Van Every got into Boston's game tonight as a late-inning defensive replacement in center field. �He struck out in his only plate appearance.

Former Indy Indian and Pittsburgh Pirate Brian Bixler homered twice for Columbus in the Clippers 7-1 win over Toledo tonight. �The homer in the 4th was for 2 runs, and the one in the 8th was a solo blast.

It wasn't pretty at all (here's a link to a photo - warning: this is gross) as recent minor league recall Chris Jakubauskas was hit in the side of the head by a line drive in the first inning off the bat of Lance Berkman. He is being kept overnight in the hospital for testing an evaluation.

Erie SeaWolves 6, �Altoona Curve 4 (box)

Reliever Jeff Sues suffered the loss when the SeaWolves broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 9th in Altoona on Friday. �Sues had just taken the mound in relief of Ronald Uviedo, when the lead-off hitter singled into center field. �A grounder to second should have been a double play, but after the lead runner was forced out at second, SS Chase d'Arnaud's relay throw to first base went wild, leaving a runner on first. �One out later, Erie's RF Deik Scram lifted a 2-run homer over the left field wall. �The Curve could not respond in the bottom of the inning, and Erie had the win.

The Curve had scored their first run in the bottom of the 1st, when CF Gorkys Hernandez walked, stole second base, and scored on DH Jim Negrych's single. �Negrych also stole second base and advanced to third when the Erie catcher threw wildly to second base, but he was stranded on third.

Erie came back in the top of the 2nd. �Curve starter Justin Wilson walked three consecutive batters to open the inning. �He got a strikeout next, but then gave up a 2-RBI single and an RBI grounder to give Erie a 3-1 lead. �After two more walks in the top of the 3rd, Wilson was relieved by Derek Hankins. The first batter Hankins faced sliced a double into left field, scoring one runner, and Erie was up 4-1.

Hot-hitting Jim Negrych tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. �Three straight singles to C Hector Gimenez, LF Jose De Los Santos, and Chase d'Arnaud loaded the bases, and with two outs, Negrych cleared the bases with a double deep into center field. �Negrych is hitting .382 over his last 9 games.

Hankins pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing 2 more hits and 2 walks after the 3rd inning. �Ronald Uviedo contributed 2 scoreless innings, including 4 strikeouts. �1B Matt Hague also had 2 hits for the Curve.

Rob Biertempfel reports that the Pirates have traded minor league outfielder Jonathan Van Every to the Red Sox for a player to be named later.

Indianapolis Indians 6, �Louisville Bats 1 (box)

2B Neil Walker and C Erik Kratz provided the in-game fireworks, which went along nicely with the post-game fireworks at Victory Field on Friday night. �Walker went 2-for-4 with a single and a double, and gave the Tribe 4 RBI, while Kratz hit a 2-run homer to account for the remaining Indians' runs. �Kevin Hart (photo) made the start for the Indians and earned his first win of the season.

Bats' starter Justin Lehr got through the first inning rather easily, walking 3B Pedro Alvarez but striking out two batters. �In the 2nd inning, Lehr gave up a one-out single to RF Brandon Moss. Kratz followed with a line drive that just cleared the left field wall, to land in a collection of kids on the grassy berm. �Indians 2, Bats 0.

Lehr got into trouble right away in the 3rd inning. �LF Jose Tabata (photo below) led off with a single lined into center field. �CF Jonathan Van Every grounded a single into right field, moving Tabata to second base. �Lehr got a little help from his catcher, Corky Miller, who caught Tabata with a big lead off second base, and fired across the diamond to pick him off the base.

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Pedro Alvarez was next to reach base, when his grounder to short kicked off the glove of SS Zack Cozart. �1B Steve Pearce loaded the bases when he worked a walk. �That brought up Neil Walker. �Walker took the first pitch down the first base line and into the right field corner, to clear the bases and give the Indians a 5-0 lead. �Pearce came all the way around from first base to score, drawing the throw from RF Wladimir Balantien. �The throw to home was wide and Pearce was in easily, but C Corky Miller alertly relayed the throw to third base, where Walker had headed on the throw in from the outfield. �Miller's throw was on time, and Walker was tagged out at third.

Lehr got out of a jam in the 4th inning. �Erik Kratz led off with a walk, and SS Brian Friday slipped a single through the hole and into left field. �Kevin Hart was batting for the first time this season in tonight's game, and he had grounded to first in the 2nd inning. �Now in the 4th, with runners on first and second with no outs, it was time for a sacrifice. �Hart fouled off two bunt attempts, but on his third try, he dropped down a bunt that was a little too hard. �The ball landed to the left of the mound, within easy reach for Lehr. �Lehr fielded, whirled, and threw to third base, where Kratz was forced out. �Tabata still had two runners on for him, and he lined a single into left field. �Friday rounded third and headed for the plate, but the throw from LF Juan Francisco reached Corky Miller just a second before Friday. �Miller reached across the plate to tag Friday for the second out. �A strikeout ended the threat.

The Pirates broke their scoreless inning streak but managed only four hits in losing to Houston and Roy Oswalt. The losing streak continues at four games.

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Louisville Bats 7, �Indianapolis Indians 1 (box)

Louisville's touted lefty Aroldis Chapman (photo above and here) won his first game for the Bats tonight, beating the Indians at Victory Field. �Chapman was scheduled to throw 90 - 100 pitches, and he ended up with 95 (54 for strikes), going 5.1 innings. �He gave up 3 hits, one unearned run, and 5 walks, while striking out 8 Tribe batters. �Chapman's fastest pitches were clocked at 98 -99 mph on the Victory Field radar gun, and he may have even reached 100 mph, depending on the limits of the gun and the scoreboard. �But Chapman was also all over the place, with pitches in the dirt, wildly around the plate, and one that even sailed behind Tribe RF Brandon Moss. In a pre-game interview with Tribe broadcaster Howard Kellman, Louisville manager Rick Sweet admitted that Chapman's command of his pitches still needs work. �"His command is pretty good for a 22-year-old", said Sweet -- but clearly not yet major league level command. �He has a lot of movement on his fastball and has a pitching motion that looks easy and effortless. �Sweet also told Kellman that as a pitcher in Cuba, Chapman did not do much work on fundamentals having to do with anything other than hurling the ball toward the plate. �He has done very little work at fielding the pitcher's position. �Since the designated hitter is used in Cuba, Chapman had never batted as a professional before tonight's game, so he's had little focus on hitting or base running.

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Later, during the game, Kellman interviewed Peter C. Bjarkman, who is intimately familiar with Cuban baseball, both the regular Cuban leagues and the Cuban national team and international play. �Bjarkman has written books about Cuban baseball, and also writes for baseballdecuba.com . �He has seen Chapman pitch many times over the past several years, and he also has concern about his command. �In Cuba, Chapman was first named to the national team at age 19, but he "pitched himself off the team" because of his wildness. �He was again named to the national team for last year's World Baseball Classic, and had two "shaky" outings. �Bjarkman reported that the Cuban baseball management felt that Chapman had not been improving over his four professional seasons. �They were not sure whether it was due to Chapman not listening to instruction as well as he ought to, or lack of personal discipline, or something else. �Bjarkman feels that Chapman gets rattled if things don't go his way, and in those kinds of situations, he loses focus and concentration, and then gets into more trouble. �He likes to try to overpower every batter he faces, and that is not always the best way to pitch.

So, what happened when he faced the Indians?

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Altoona Curve 3, �Erie SeaWolves 2 (box)

3B Jordy Mercer was the man of the night for the Curve, as he went 3-for-4 at the plate, raising his batting average to .348. �He drove in two of the Curve's three runs and scored the first and third. �LF Alex Presley went 3-for-3, and 1B Matt Hague contributed two hits and the remaining RBI.

Starter Rudy Owens earned his first win of the season. �He allowed one run on 5 hits and a walk over 6 innings, and struck out 5 Erie batters. �The run came in the 2d inning, on a single, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single. �Owens stopped the scoring at one run by getting the next batter to bounce into a double play. �Owens also worked around base runners in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th innings, then retired the SeaWolves in order in the 5th and 6th.

The Curve bats were quiet in the early innings. �Their first hit was a single by Presley to lead off the 3rd. �Mercer tied the score at 1-1 with his first home run of the season, a blast over the left field wall with one out in the 4th. �Hague and Presley both singled following the homer, but were both left on base. �The go-ahead run came in the 5th inning. �CF Gorkys Hernandez led off with a single into right field that had deflected off the Erie pitcher. �SS Chase d'Arnaud bunted Hernandez to second base, then RF Miles Durham was hit by a pitch. �That brought up Mercer, who doubled down the left field line, scoring Hernandez.

Owens was relieved by Michael Dubee to begin the top of the 7th. �Dubee retired the side in order that inning, but the top of the 8th began with a batter reaching on a fielding error by Mercer. �After a stolen base, a walk, and a strikeout, Dubee was relieved by Danny Moskos. Moskos got a grounder for a force out at third, then a second ground out to end the inning without a run scoring.

Mercer started the rally in the bottom of the 8th that gave the Curve an insurance run. �He led off with a triple into right field, which was followed by a walk to C Kris Watts, and two singles by Hague (RBI) and Presley. �With the bases loaded and one out, Hernandez grounded to third, forcing Watts out at the plate, and another grounder ended the inning. �The insurance run was necessary, because Erie scored one more time in the top of the 9th on a double and a single off Moskos, who held on to end the inning and earn his third save.

In and out of the car as this was going down and I think I went through several stages of emotions. When it was 8-0, it was anger. When it was 13-0 it was disbelief. At 16-0 it was numbness. When it was over, I had a weird feeling of happiness in knowing that I had witnessed (at least some portions in audible form) an event of historic significance (not in a good way).

Zach Duke was unable to move to 3-0 on the year. He suffered through his toughest start of the young season. In five innings he gave up seven runs, seven hits and three walks. Three of those hits cleared the fences on the fly.

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Columbus Clippers 6, �Indianapolis Indians 1 (box)

Too many runners left on base were the downfall of the Indians this afternoon at Victory Field. �Too many times left in scoring position, too many times when the Tribe ran themselves out of the inning. �The Clippers did not have that problem, and they were able to take advantage of the runners they put on, to take the win and split this short 2-game series with the Indians.

Jeremy Powell (photo) made another spot start for the Indians, since Chris Jakubauskas's start was pushed back to Thursday. �Powell worked around runners on base in the 1st and 2nd innings, giving up two singles and a walk.

In the 3rd inning, the Clippers got an unhappy surprise. �With two outs, their star prospect, C Carlos Santana, fouled a 1-0 pitch off his left knee. �Santana fell to the ground at the plate, and remained on the ground for several minutes, eventually needing help to leave the field. �The Columbus back-up catcher, Damaso Espino, came in to finish Santana's at-bat, and he worked a walk. �The next batter, DH Shelley Duncan, hit a towering fly ball well over the left field wall, for a 2-run homer.

Powell finished off the 3rd inning, and then retired the Clippers in order in the 4th.

The Indians had also started the game quietly, as Columbus starter Jeanmar Gomez struck out 6 batters over the first 3 innings. �2B Neil Walker had the Tribe's first hit, a single into right field, and he proceeded to steal second base, but was stranded there on second.

C Erik Kratz walked to lead off the 3rd inning, but he was forced out when LF Jose Tabata grounded to short. �Tabata beat out the relay throw to first base, avoiding the double play. �He advanced to second base when Gomez's pickoff throw to first went wide and ended up over by the Columbus bullpen. �Tabata stole third base, tying him for the league lead in stolen bases with 8. �But another strikeout ended the inning with Tabata still standing on third base.

The Tribe scored one run in the 4th inning. �DH Brian Myrow led off with a double to deep center field, and when the Columbus CF Jose Constanza dropped the ball while transfering it from his glove to his throwing hand, Myrow kept going and slid into third (photo) as the 3B Brian Buscher had to chase after the wide throw. �3B Pedro Alvarez (photo below) took the first pitch he saw into right field, allowing Myrow to score what would by the Indians' only run. �1B Steve Pearce followed with a sharply hit grounder along the third base line, which Buscher could only knock down and keep from getting into left field.

Altoona Curve �9, �Akron Aeros 6 (box)

The Curve swept the 3-game series with the Akron Aeros in their own park with an afternoon win on Wednesday. �DH Jim Negrych continued his hot hitting by going 3-for-4 at the plate, including 2 doubles. �C Kris Watts added a 2-run homer, and SS Chase d'Arnaud and 1B Matt Hague each had 2 hits.

Akron had the early lead. �They scored twice in the 1st inning, with a single and back-to-back doubles off Curve starter Tim Alderson. Another double, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly added a run in the 2nd inning, giving the Aeros a 3-0 lead. �That didn't last long. �The Curve came back with 4 runs in the top of the 3rd. �3B Josh Harrison singled and went to second base on a wild pitch. �He scored on Negrych's double. �Watts walked, then d'Arnaud also doubled, scoring Negrych. �A single from Hague brought in both Watts and d'Arnaud, and the Curve had a 4-3 lead.

The Aeros tied the score at 4-4 in the 4th inning, on a single, a passed ball by Watts, and an RBI single. �Altoona took the lead again in the top of the 5th. �Negrych led off the inning with a single, and Watts' homer gave the Curve a 6-4 lead. �The Aeros fought back and tied the score again in the bottom of the inning. �A walk and a single with two outs chased Tim Alderson from the game. �Tony Watson came on in relief, but he gave up a double, scoring both base runners. �Alderson was responsible for those runs, for a total of 6 (5 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks, plus one strikeout.

Finally, the Curve scored an unanswered run in the top of the 6th. �With one out, RF Alex Presley singled into center field. �Josh Harrison lined a single into right field, but was out at second when he tried to stretch it into a double. �While the Aeros were busy with Harrison, Presley was able to score the go-ahead run. �The Curve then added two insurance runs. �In the 8th, Matt Hague led off with a walk, and 2B Shelby Ford singled, moving Hague to third base. �That gave LF Jose De Los Santos the chance to bring in Hague with a sacrifice fly. �In the 9th, walks to Watts and CF Gorkys Hernandez plus a single by Hague gave Altoona even more insurance.

Tony Watson pitched 3 more innings. �He had a batter reach in the 6th on a throwing error by d'Arnaud, but retired the other 9 batters he faced. �Watson was credited with the win. �Jeff Sues earned his third save with a scoreless 9th inning.