Sean Gallagher made the start for the Indians. He had walked two batters in the 1st inning, including former Indy Indian (2004) SS JJ Hardy, who is with the Tides on a rehab assignment from the Orioles. Gallagher left both runners on base, then retired the side in order in the 2nd. He went into the bottom of the 3rd with a 2-0 lead, but with one out, a solo homer by Davis cut the lead in half. After a ground out by Hardy, Gallagher walked LF Nolan Reimold, then gave up back-to-back singles by 1B Brandon Snyder and 3B Josh Bell. The second single drove in Reimold to tie the game. Next up, DH Rhyme Hughes gave the Tides the lead with a 3-run homer down the right field line, over the party deck, and out of the ballpark.
The Indians threatened again in the 4th, when they again began the inning with a single — a grounder to the right side of the infield by Jaramillo. After two outs, Friday blooped a single just over the leaping Hardy’s glove, pushing Jaramillo to second base. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch that sailed all the way to the backstop, but a fly out ended the inning with both still in place.
The Tribe did not have another hit again in the game. Presley reached on a fielding error in the 5th, but was picked off and caught stealing. RF Andrew Lambo walked to lead off the 7th inning, but was erased when Friday grounded into a double play. Pinch hitter Andy Marte also reached on an error when CF Angle tried to charge in and make a basket catch, only to drop the ball out of his mitt. A ground out ended that inning with Marte still on first base.
Gallagher worked around a missed catch error by 1B Hague in the bottom of the 4th. The throw from Friday at third came in high, and Hague caught it, but had the ball drop out of his glove when the batter, Hester, ran into his arm as Hague went to tag him. Hardy walked, giving the Tides runners on first and second, but Gallagher got a fly out to end that frame. Gallagher also worked around a single in the 5th. He finished his night’s work with 5 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks, with 6 strikeouts in 5 innings. He was charged with the loss.
Blaine Boyer relieved Gallagher to begin the 6th inning, and after getting the first two batters out, he got into trouble. Davis and Hardy hit back-to-back singled, then Reimold drove a long fly ball over the left field wall for another 3-run homer. That gave Norfolk an 8-2 lead. After the homer, Boyer hit the next batter (he might have been warned by the umpires, but it was hard to see for sure on the Tides’ video broadcast), then gave up a single to Bell. That was all for Boyer, who was relieved by Justin Thomas. Thomas ended the inning with a strikeout of the only batter he faced in the game.
Jose Ascanio took the mound for the 7th inning, and retired the side in order. Cesar Valdez pitched the bottom of the 8th, and gave up a single to Reimold, but kept him from scoring.
Indians’ Hitting Gems of the Game: Brian Friday was the only Tribe batter to have two hits, and he scored their first run. Pedro Ciricaco (photo) had the only RBI, with his single in the 3rd.
Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game: In the bottom of the 7th, John Hester lifted a fly ball to right field, near the foul line. Andrew Lambo, who had been playing deep and more towards right-center, came charging in and to his right. He made the diving catch, rolled, and came up holding his glove aloft so the umpire could see that the ball was still in it.
NOTES:
OF John Bowker (photo), who cleared waivers after being designated for assignment, is expected to join the Indians in Norfolk tomorrow.
3B Josh Harrison’s groin pull is doing much better — he was able to hit and field during practice today. He should be ready to come off the DL this weekend also.
Those two things are going to force the Indians to do some roster shuffling.
Also, Jose Ascanio’s rehab assignment is going to be up in the middle of next week. He has only been with the Indians for a couple of weeks, but he began the assignment on April 11th with the Bradenton Marauders. Rehab assignments for pitchers last 30 days. The Pirates are going to have to figure out what to do with him after that. He currently has an 8.53 ERA in about 6 AAA games, which is probably not enough to earn him a spot in the Pirates’ bullpen. But, Ascanio is out of options, so if the Pirates want to send him back to the Indians, he will have to be DFA’ed and clear waivers.
Go Tribe!
(photos by Nancy)
