Donnie Veal (photo) began the bottom of the 1st with a 2-run boost, but it didn’t last long. �Luis Maza walked with one out, and LF John Mayberry tied the game with a 2-run homer, which hit the back wall of the bullpen, about 40 feet up.
The Indians tied the game with a run in the 2nd. �SS Doug Bernier lined a�single just out of reach of the Pigs’ first baseman and into right field, then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Donnie Veal. �Jose Tabata brought Bernier home with a bloopy single into right field.
The Tribe added another run in the 5th inning, when Neil Walker singled up the middle. �Pedro Alvarez followed with a long drive down to the right field corner, where Pigs’ Cody Ransom had trouble picking up the ball. �Walker had begun to slow up as he neared third base, but when Ransom was fumbling, Walker was waved around third and sent home. �He scored easily, and when the throw came back to the infield, Alvarez was easily sliding into third base well ahead of the ball.
Veal held off an Iron Pigs’ rally in the 3rd inning. �He walked his opponent Vogelsong, but then erased him in a double play on a grounder off the bat of the speedy Rich Thompson — not an easy double play to get with Thompson running. �But Luis Maza and John Mayberry both singled, Mayberry on a grounder that went off 3B Pedro Alvarez’s glove when he had trouble getting into position to scoop it. �A walk to Andy Tracy loaded the bases, but Veal then got Ransom to fly out to Walker in left field to end the inning, leaving all three runners stranded. �Veal worked around a lone base runner in each of the 4th and the 5th, and looked like he was in good form… until the 6th inning happened.
Things didn’t get better after the 6th. �Anthony Claggett came on to pitch the 7th inning for the Tribe, and he got Cody Ransom to ground out for the first out of the inning, on a diving stop by Bernier at short. �But a double, a single, and a home run by Dane Sardinha followed — this time Sardinha got his fly ball to bounce on the other side of the fence in left-center field — and the Iron Pigs took a 10-4 lead.
The Indians started to come back with a rally in the 8th. �Pedro Alvarez (photo) led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center field. �Moments later, RF Brandon Moss singled, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. �Erik Kratz doubled into the left field corner, scoring Moss, and the Tribe crept a little closer: �10-6. �That was all they could get. �A strikeout and a line out ended that inning, and three ground outs retired the Tribe in the 9th inning, and the Iron Pigs had the win.
The Indians recorded 10 hits in the game, as Alvarez led the way with 3 hits — he was a double away from hitting for the cycle. �Neil Walker had two singles. �Donnie Veal was charged with the loss, his second of the season.
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Indians’ Hitting Gems of the Game: �A triple and a homer by Pedro Alvarez, for 3 RBI. �It was Alvarez’s first triple of the season and his 6th homer.
Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game: �In the bottom of the 7th, Cody Ransom smacked a grounder deep to short, where Doug Bernier made the diving stop, then a throw from his knees that reached first base just barely in time for the out.
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Go Tribe!
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(photos by Nancy)
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