The top of the 1st began with an infield hit by Jason Repko. �Repko stole second base (photo), somehow avoiding 2B Neil Walker’s tag. �He scored when Trevor Plouffe grounded sharply up the middle, just past dives from Brian Friday and 2B Neil Walker. Penn settled in after that, and retired the next three batters in order to end the inning. �He retired the side in the 2nd inning, and got the first out of the 3rd as well. �That brought up Repko and Plouffe again. �With one out in the 3rd, Penn gave up another slow rolling infield single to Repko. �3B Pedro Alvarez picked the ball up barehanded, but by then it was too late to make a throw. �Plouffe followed with another grounder up the middle. �Once done with those two, Penn got the next two batters to ground out to Neil Walker at second base, and the inning ended without another run scoring.
Penn continued on, striking out the side in the 4th inning. �The 5th inning began with another infield single. �Brock Peterson grounded toward shortstop. �3B Alvarez ran in and to his left and made a dive for the ball, which glanced off the end of his glove. �Brian Friday was backing up, and he was perfectly lined up to make the play if the ball had just gotten past Alvarez and gone straight. �With the deflection off the tip of the glove, though, the ball veered away from Friday, and Peterson was safe at first.
De San Miguel sacrifice bunted Peterson to second base, bringing up Penn’s troublesome twosome again. �Repko sliced a line drive down the third base line, just out of Alvarez’s reach for an RBI double, scoring Peterson. �Plouffe grounded up the middle for the third consecutive at-bat — this time the ball bounced off the back slope of the mound, bounced again on the infield dirt near second base where no one could reach it, and continued on into center field. �That brought Repko across the plate, and the Red Wings had 3 runs.
Since Penn (photo) was being so efficient with his pitches, he was able to come out again in the 6th. �He struck out Luke Hughes, then gave up another in the series of slow infield rollers to Dustin Martin. �Then Penn induced Danny Valencia to bounce to Alvarez a little faster, and Alvarez started a 5-4-3 (Alvarez to Walker to Brian Myrow) double play to get out of the inning.
The Indians tied the score in the 3rd inning. �With one out, Brian Friday reached base when Rochester SS Trevor Plouffe fielded his grounder to short but threw wide to first base, and Friday was able to avoid being tagged out by 1B Brock Peterson. �Jose Tabata followed the error by smacking a double to the right field alley. �Friday raced around the bases and attempted to score from third base, but was tagged out at the plate as he tried to score (photo sequence). �C Allan de San Miguel set up well in front of the plate, and Friday was tagged out before he got anywhere near to the plate (which is behind his behind in the second photo).
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Jose Tabata advanced to second base on the throw in from the outfield. �As Rochester starter Jeff Manship set up for the first pitch to Neil Walker, Tabata distracted him by dancing around off third base. �That made Manship commit a balk, and Tabata was given permission to walk home, tying the score.
After the Red Wings scored two more runs in the top of the 5th, the Indians came back for the second time in the game. �In the bottom of the frame, Kevin Melillo picked up his first hit with the Indians, a single into right field. �Brian Friday’s double into the left field corner plated Melillo, and the Tribe was one run closer. �They added another run in the 6th to tie the score again. �With one out, Pedro Alvarez grounded a single into right field. �DH Brandon Jones singled into center, moving Alvarez to third base (photo). �The Red Wings intentionally walked left-handed�Brandon Moss, in order to pitch to righty Erik Kratz. �That was probably a mistake,��though, since Kratz grounded through the hole and into left field, scoring Alvarez. �Score tied, 3-3.
Reliever Steven Jackson came on in relief of Hayden Penn to begin the 7th inning. �Jacque Jones greeted Jackson with a double into left field. �Brock Peterson singled into right field, and a fielding error by Brandon Moss in right field brought Jones all the way around to take a 4-3 lead (no RBI for Peterson). �Jackson gave up another single to Trevor Plouffe (his 4th straight), but left both Peterson and Plouffe stranded on base at the end of the inning. �Jackson also gave up a lone single in the 8th, but did not let that runner score.
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Once again, the Tribe came back. �In the bottom of the 7th, Brian Friday walked. �Rochester reliever Kyle Waldrop tried to pick Friday off base, but threw wildly to 1B Peterson. �Friday had his back turned, and did not immediately see that Peterson had to chase after the ball. �When he did figure it out, there was still some confusion, and by they Peterson had caught up to the ball, so Friday did not try to take second base. �It turned out to not matter, though. �Friday was off and running on the 1-1 pitch to Jose Tabata. �Tabata hit a high bouncer back to the mound, and Waldrop threw to first base, but Friday didn’t even slow down when he hit second base. �It surprised the Red Wings, and by the time they recovered, Friday was sliding into third base and avoiding a tag. �Brian Myrow slipped a grounder past third base and into left field for a double, and Friday crossed the plate, tying the score again.
Vinnie Chulk retired the Red Wings in order in the 9th inning. �Pedro Alvarez made a fine catch of a screaming line drive, turning to his right to stab the chest-high bullet. �The Tribe put two runners on base in the 8th, on a two-out double by Erik Kratz and an intentional walk to Kevin Melillo. �A grounder back to the mound by Friday ended that inning. �Neil Walker doubled into left field in the 9th, cruising into second base standing up. �He moved to third base on a wild pitch (and Brian Dinkelman did the same thing in the 10th). �Pedro Alvarez was intentionally walked with two outs, and Brandon Jones grounded to first base to end that inning without a run scoring. �That put the game into extra innings, and the Red Wings took advantage of Jean Machi to take the win.
(Photo: �Neil Walker and Brian Friday)
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Indians Hitting Gems of the Game: �(1)�An RBI double by Brian Friday in the 5th, (2) an RBI single in the 6th by Erik Kratz, and (3) an RBI double by Brian Myrow in the 7th �– all driving in tying runs for the Indians.
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Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game: �In the top of the 2nd, Brock Peterson hit what appeared to be a routine grounder to third base. �Pedro Alvarez got set like usual, but then the last bounce, which was about 5 – 6 feet in front of him, must have hit something in the dirt, because the ball bounded way up. �The bad hop came at Alvarez at head-level instead of waist-level where it should have been. �But Alvarez stayed with it, pulled the ball down, and still made the play for the out at first base.
(Photo: �Moss steals second base standing up in the 2nd inning, when starter Jeff Manship forgets to pay attention to him.)
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NOTES:
Moving Hayden Penn into the Tribe starting rotation means that someone else has to come out of the rotation. �That someone else will be Jeremy Powell. Powell will move to a relief role, hopefully continuing the strong work he’s been doing lately.
Kevin Melillo made his first start for the Indians today, playing left field. �It was the first time in his pro career that he has started a game in the outfield.
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Go Tribe!
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(Photos by Nancy)
