Monthly Archives: April, 2011

Brian Friday makes the play at third base.



Norfolk Tides  6,  Indianapolis Indians  0
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Three Norfolk pitchers combined to hold the Indians to just 3 hits in a shut-out game tonight at Victory Field.  Only the outfielders had hits --  LF Alex Presley and CF Gorkys Hernandez both singled and RF Andrew Lambo doubled.  Starter Rudy Owens was not able to contain the Tides' batters, and he suffered his second loss of the season.

The Tides' batters got to Owens (photo) in the top of the 1st.  CF Tyler Henson and 2B Ryan Adams led off with back-to-back singles into left field.  With runners on the corners, Owens struck out the next two batters, former Indy Indian SS Nick Green and 1B Brandon Snyder.  It looked like Owens might get out of the jam, but LF Nolan Reimold worked the count full, fouled off a couple more pitches, then ripped a double into left-center field.  LF Presley and CF Hernandez both raced toward the ball, and at the last possible second, Presley made a desperate dive -- but could not come up with the ball.  That drove in both base runners, to give the Tides a 2-0 lead.  

Owens pitched a scoreless 2nd inning, then gave up a solo home run to Snyder in the 3rd inning, increasing the Tides' lead to 3-0.  He retired the side in order in the 4th.  In the 5th, RF Blake Davis grounded sharply through the hole and into left field, but as he rounded first and headed for second, Davis was not counting on Presley in left field.  Presley came up throwing, and his throw to 2B Pedro Ciriaco was on-target and well ahead of Davis, who was out at second.  Adams also reached base when he grounded to first.  1B Matt Hague made a great diving stop, but when Owens arrived to cover the bag, he dropped Hague's toss for an error.  Adams was left on first when a fly out ended the inning.  

Pirates' lower minor league action for Thursday:  the Curve had an early game, and the Marauders and the Power play in the evening

Harrisburg Senators  6,  Altoona Curve  2
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Matt McSwain made his AA debut today with the Curve, after being promoted from A+ Bradenton to fill the roster spot opened when Bryan Morris went on the DL (oblique strain).   Unfortunately, it was not as happy a debut as McSwain and the Curve would have liked, as the Senators scored 4 runs over their last two at-bats to take the win.

Mike Colla made the start for the Curve, and retired the first 11 batters he faced in order.  Then he gave up back-to-back solo home runs in the 4th.   

The Curve batters were getting on base during those innings, but they weren't scoring either.  CF Starling Marte and RF Eric Fryer both singled, and 3B Jeremy Farrell and C Kris Watts both doubled, but all were left on base. LF Quincy Latimore put the Curve onto the scoreboard in the 6th, when he led off the inning with a solo home run over the left field wall.  Then he gave the Curve their only other run with another solo home run (to left-center field) in the 8th.  

McSwain came on in relief of Colla to begin the 5th.   He retired the Senators in order in the 5th and 6th innings, then gave up a run in the 7th on a walk, a single, and an RBI double.  With two runners in scoring position, McSwain ended the inning with a ground out and a fly out.  He got into trouble again in the 8th, with a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI double, to bring in one run.  The next batter, 1B Tyler Moore, homered for the second time in the game, adding another 2 runs.  Colla was charged with his first loss of the season.  

Celebrate the win!











Indianapolis Indians 7,  Norfolk Tides  6
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The Indianapolis Indians pulled out another come-from-behind win over the Norfolk Tides this afternoon at Victory Field, and once again the Max Schumacher Victory Bell rang out at the end of the game.  Justin Thomas earned his first win for the Indians, and Tim Wood earned his third save, while 1B Matt Hague (photo) went 3-for-4 at the plate.  Three Indians hit solo home runs:  Hague, LF Alex Presley, and C Dusty Brown.  

The game did not start out well for the Indians.  Lead-off batter 3B Josh Harrison opened the bottom of the 1st with a line drive single into left-center field, but as he took a few steps out of the batters' box, he began to limp.  He limped his way down to first base (ordinarily, he might have made it to second on this hit), then called for time out.  After a brief discussion with trainer Bryan Housand and manager Dean Treanor, Harrison came out of the game.  Chase d'Arnaud came in as a pinch runner, then stayed in the game to play second base, while Brian Friday moved from second over to third base.  There was no further word by the end of the game about Harrison's condition.

Unfortunately, before anything else could happen, d'Arnaud was picked off first base and caught stealing.  The reason that it was so unfortunate for the Indians was that one out later, Presley rocketed a home run over the right field wall for his third home run of the season.  It was a solo homer, but it could have been a 2-run homer.  Hague slapped a sharp grounder up the middle after the home run, but he was left on base.