Durham Bulls  2,  Indianapolis Indians  1
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The Indians and the Bulls took it into extra innings at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, but it was the Bulls who came out on top.  After taking advantage of an Indians' error, Bulls' LF Justin Ruggiano lined a bases-loaded single for the walk-off win.  

Rudy Owens (photo) made the start for the Indians, one day later than he would have been regularly scheduled, because he was serving out the end of his suspension from last week.  Owens gave up only a single over the first two innings, then found himself needing to work out of big jams in the 3rd and 4th.  With one out in the 3rd, Bulls' SS Ray Olmedo reached base when his Indians' counterpart, SS Pedro Ciriaco, dropped his grounder for an error.  CF Desmond Jennings walked, and Ruggiano beat out an infield hit on a swinging bunt down the third base line.  3B Josh Harrison was not expecting such a short hit, and by the time he charged in to get it, Ruggiano was already at first base.  RF Brandon Guyer stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, and bounced to third, where Harrison made the scoop and instead of trying for an around-the-horn double play, he fired to the plate, and C Dusty Brown made the force out on Olmedo.  Owens struck out 3B Felipe Lopez to end the inning without a run scoring.  

Owens had to work out of a jam again in the 4th.  He walked DH ChrisCarter, then C Robinson Chirinos smacked a grounder to third base, which hit Harrison on the leg and ricocheted all the way behind second base and into short right field.  By the time 2B Brian Friday could track it down, Carter had rounded second and alertly advanced to third base.  1B Leslie Anderson followed with a line drive into right field, scoring Carter from third base with the first run of the game.  There were still two runners on base and no outs.  2B Omar Luna dropped down a bunt that got too close to the mound -- Owens was able to snatch it up and throw to third base for the force out of the lead runner Chirinos.  A single into center field by Olmedo loaded the bases again, but Owens held tight.  He got a pop out (infield fly rule) and a fly out to end the inning without any more runs scoring.  Bulls 1, Indians 0.  

Owens retired the next 6 Bulls in order to finish his evening's work.  In 6 innings, Owens threw 90 pitches (55 strikes), and allowed that one run on 5 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts.  

Tuesday night's action in the Pirates' lower minor leagues:

West Virginia Power  5,  Charleston RiverDogs  1
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Colton Cain took his second win of the season, allowing 3 hits and one run over 5 innings, with one walk and 3 strikeouts.  Cain had some trouble in the 1st inning, when a lead-off single, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single drove in a run for Charleston.   After a walk, Cain got the next batter to fly out to center, where a nice throw from CF Mel Rojas to 3B Eric Avila ended the inning.  Cain retired the next 10 batters in order, then gave up a double in the 5th inning.  He struck out two batters to end his evening's work.  

The Power batters gave Cain all the run support he needed in the top of the 2nd.  With one out, DH Jairo Marquez lined a double into right field, then went to third base when C Elias Diaz reached base on a fielding error.  Diaz stole second base, then LF Rogelios Noris singled into right field, plating Marquez.  Noris advanced to second base on the throw in from the outfield, which put him into position to score behind Diaz on Avila's 2-RBI single.  The Power added a run in the 3rd for a 4-1 lead.  RF Dan Grovatt singled, then 1B Justin Howard's double advanced Grovatt to third.  Rojas picked up the RBI with a ground out, scoring Grovatt.  

Kevin Decker relieved Cain to begin the 6th inning.  He pitched 3 perfect innings, including 3 strikeouts.  Brooks Pounders took the 9th inning and allowed only a single in his scoreless inning.  

Charleston committed errors in both the 4th and the 5th innings, but the Power were not able to take advantage of those errors to score.  The Power scored one more run in the 9th, when Marquez bed off with a single, and was bunted to second by Diaz.  Noris' ground out moved Diaz to third, and he scored on a wild pitch.   

Indianapolis Indians  7,  Durham Bulls  5
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Home runs by RF John Bowker and DH Andrew Lambo and a triple by LF Corey Wimberly gave the Indians the offense they needed to power past the Bulls tonight.  The game was played at the old Durham Athletic Park, which is the original stadium in Durham -- the one where the old A-level team played, and where the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed.  Last season, the Bulls played one game at the old stadium, which sits about 5 blocks from their "new" stadium, Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  Everyone must have had fun, because they decided to do it again this year, and this time the Indians were the visitors who got to participate.  It was a bit awkward for the players -- they had to change clothes and do batting practice at the new stadium, then take a bus to the old stadium for the game.  After the game, they rode back to the new facility to shower up and change clothes again.  Lambo said that the players had fun at the old park, even though the dugout was a little cramped.  The teams wore "retro" uniforms for the game.

Jose Ascanio (photo) made a one-inning start for the Indians, throwing 31 pitches (20 strikes) and giving up 2 runs.  Ascanio began the inning by allowing a single to SS Ray Olmedo.  CF Justin Ruggiano reached base on a fielding error by 3B Josh Harrison.  A wild pitch by Ascanio let both runners move up a base, then a walk to LF Brandon Guyer loaded the bases with no outs.  Ascanio got a strikeout, but then RF Chris Carter lined a double into right field, bringing in both Olmedo and Ruggiano to score.  Another strikeout and a ground out got Ascanio out of the inning, though with the Indians trailing 2-0.   

The Bradenton Marauders have a scheduled day off today.

Harrisburg Senators  3,  Altoona Curve  2
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Three walks and an RBI ground out in the bottom of the 9th gave the Senators a walk-off win against the Curve.  
Altoona had scored first, on 3B Jeremy Farrell's solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning.  The Senators replied with a solo home run by 3B Tim Pahuta in the bottom of the inning.  The Curve took the lead again in the top of the 4th, when LF Quincy Latimore singled, then Farrell picked up another RBI with his double into center field.   

Mike Colla pitched 5 innings and struck out 5 batters in his start.  He gave up that solo homer, plus two singles in the 1st inning.  Colla walked two batters, and those were the only Harrisburg base runners over the last three innings of his outing.  Tim Alderson struck out two batters in his scoreless 6th inning.  Chris Leroux took the mound to begin the 7th inning.  He was charged with a Blown Save when he gave up Pahuta's second solo home run, tying the game at 2-2.  

The Curve threatened in the 6th inning, when CF Starling Marte led off with a single.  Latimore grounded into a force out at second, replacing Marte at first.  A fielding error by Pahuta let SS Jordy Mercer reach base safely.  Former Indy Indian Jimmy Barthmaier came on in relief for Harrisburg, and he got Farrell to bounce into a double play, ending the rally.  Barthmaier gave up a double to 1B Miles Durham with one out in the 7th, then walked pinch hitter Kris Watts, before being relieved himself.  A strikeout ended that threat without a run scoring.  

Each team put a runner on base in the 8th -- Mercer walked and stole second for the Curve, and the Senators had a single, and the runner moved to second on a wild pitch by Leroux -- but neither one scored.  The Curve went down in order in the top of the 9th.  Noah Krol replaced Leroux to begin the bottom of the 9th.  He walked the first batter he faced, then a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second base.  Pahuta was intentionally walked, then the next batter was unintentionally walked to load the bases.  A ground out to third looked like it might be a double play, but the 5-4-3 throw only got out the batter at first, while the runner going to second was safe.  That allowed the runner from third to score, giving the Senators the win.