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Just when the Mud Hens were thinking that they almost had this thing nailed down, Alex Presley led off the top of the 9th with his third hit of the night, a push bunt down the third base line.� Toledo pitcher Jay Sborz, catcher Kunkel, and third baseman Larish converged to stare at the ball, trying to will it to roll foul — but it came to a stop in the dirt just on the fair side of the chalk, and Presley was safe at first.� Presley then stole his first base in his time with the Indians (he’d stolen 5 bases while with Altoona).� Luke Carlin worked a walk.� Then Jonathan Van Every stepped to the plate with runners on first and second, and lifted the 2-2 pitch over the wall in center field.� Toledo CF Wells ran back to the wall, but could only stand there looking up as the ball left the park well over his head.� Argenis Diaz walked after the homer, and he also stole second base. � Sborz got the next three batters out, but the Indians had taken the lead, 3-1.
Jean Machi, who was the pitcher of record when Van Every launched his missile, got a strike out, a ground out, and a strike out, in quick succession in the bottom of the 9th, and the Indians had the win.
The Columbus Clippers lost today, so the Indians’ win creeps them a little closer to the Clippers in the standings.� The Tribe is in second place in the International League Western Division, now 7.5 games behind the first-place Clippers.� The Mud Hens are 2.5 games behind the Indians and 10 games out of first place.
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Indians’ Hitting Gem of the Game:� Jonathan Van Every’s 5th home run of the season, the game winner.� “I was just trying to put together a quality at-bat and move the runners up to give the guys behind me a chance,” said Van Every after the game.�� “I tried to put the ball in play, and luckily, I just ran into one…. I didn’t think it had a chance to get out.� It must have gotten into some invisible jet stream.� I saw the center fielder look up, and lo and behold, it was out.”
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Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game:� The throw in from left field in the bottom of the fifth.� With one run already in, Jon Weber lined into left field, and Max Leon tried to score from first base.� Kevin Melillo’s throw to the infield, relayed by Aki Iwamura to Luke Carlin at home, was in time to tag out Leon as he tried to slide around and reach back with his hand to tap the plate.
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NOTES:
Don’t forget to watch Bryan Morris and Gorkys Hernandez in the Futures Game tomorrow (Sunday) at 6 pm Eastern on ESPN2 and MLB.TV.� Hernandez will be the starting center fielder for the World team.� Tony Sanchez was also invited, but he won’t be able to participate because of his jaw injury.
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Go Tribe!
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(photos by Nancy)
