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(Photo: �Neil Walker on first base with Doug Bernier doing coaching duties.)
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The Indians caught up again in the 3rd inning. �With one out, SS Argenis Diaz slipped a single through the hole on the right side of the infield. �Jose Tabata walked for the second time, and Neil Walker loaded the bases with a bloop single into left field. �Bryan Myrow again stepped up, driving in Diaz and Tabata with a single into right field. �Walker raced from first around to third base, sliding in half a step ahead of the throw in from RF Reid Gorecki.
A wild pitch from Nova moved Myrow up to second base, though the ball only got a few feet onto the grass beyond the dirt around the plate, so Walker did not try to advance from third base. �Pedro Alvarez rocketed a line right back at Nova, striking him on his left ankle or foot. �Nova went stumbling off the mound, unable to even try to pick up the ball and make a play. �Walker scored and Myrow went to third, as 3B Cusick scrambled to the mound to field the ball, though Alvarez was already safe at first.
Nova had to leave the game, so the Yankees got to take as much time as they needed to get reliever Kei Igawa warmed up. �Brandon Moss grounded sharply to the 2B Corona, who first had the ball hit his glove and drop behind him. �He had time only to throw to second, forcing out Alvarez, leaving Moss at first. �A fly out ended the inning, but the Indians had taken a 5-3 lead.
(Photo: Dean Traynor discusses with Luke Carlin (behind) and Jeremy Powell)
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By this time, the rain had increased from a gently sprinkle to a pretty serious downpour, and the Diamond Dry was not helping a lot. �Powell got the first out easily, then the next five batters reached base safely. �Gorecki doubled into left field, with the ball getting past LF Kevin Melillo’s desperate dive. �Cusick singled through the hole and into right field. �Moss fired the ball back to the infield, as Gorecki rounded third and headed for the plate. �The throw went on-target to C Luke Carlin, but Gorecki reached the plate before the ball did. �Powell walked Greg Golson on four pitches, then Corona drilled a single into left field, which took an unexpected hop on the wet grass and got past Melillo. �It was ruled both a single and an error on Melillo, and it brought in Cusick (no RBI), to tie the score at 5-5. �SS Eduardo Nunez lined a single into center field, scoring Golson to take the lead. �Nunez rounded first base and might have taken second, but he slipped and fell on the infield dirt, just scrambling back to first base in time.
That was all for Powell. �Steven Jackson (photo) came on in relief, and began with a strike out of David Winfree for the second out of the inning. �Then Jon Weber lifted a double over Jose Tabata’s head and all the way to the center field wall, bringing in both Corona and Nunez. �When the inning ended on a ground out to short, the Yankees had an 8-5 lead. �Powell was responsible for all 8 runs, on 7 hits, with 3 walks and a strikeout.
Play was stopped at that point, and eventually the game was suspended. �It’s still raining, and it’s been a few hours now.
If the rain has stopped by Friday afternoon (that’s not a sure thing), then this game will resume at 5:30 pm. �This game will be finished as a 9-inning game. �The game scheduled for Friday will be played after the first game is finished, and that game will be 7 innings.
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Photos: �Left — Brandon Moss makes a running catch in the outfield; �Right — Neil Walker was at first base tonight.
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Photo: �The relief corps abandons the bullpen for the dry dugout
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Go Tribe!
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(Photos by Nancy)
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