The Indianapolis Indians played a double header tonight against the Columbus Clippers in Columbus, to make up for Saturday's rain out -- and the Indians lost both games.

Columbus Clippers  6,  Indianapolis Indians  1    (Game 1)
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The first game, which began at 5 pm, saw the Indians jump out to a good start.  With two outs in the top of the 1st, LF Alex Presley lifted a home run over the right-center field wall to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.  1B Matt Hague tried to keep the inning going with a single lined into left field following the homer, but he was left on base.   

Tribe starter Sean Gallagher (photo) could not hold on to that lead.  With one out in the bottom of the 1st,  Gallagher walked DH Cord Phelps and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall back-to-back, then loaded the bases with a single to LF Chad Huffman.  Another single, by 1B Travis Buck, drove in both Phelps and Chisenhall, then a slip by Presley in left field let Huffman move up to third base.  Gallagher caught a break when C Jason Jaramillo threw out Buck as he tried to steal second base, then Gallagher ended the inning with a strikeout.

Columbus increased the lead to 4-1 with two more runs in the 2nd inning.  RF Jordan Brown led off with a double, and former Indy Indian C Luke Carlin walked.  Jaramillo tried to pick Brown off second base, but the throw bounced off SS Pedro Ciriaco's glove and into left-center field, putting Brown on third and Carlin on second.  SS Luis Valbuena ripped a double into the left-center field gap, driving in both Brown and Carlin, and the Clippers were ahead by 3 runs.  They added another run in the 3rd inning, on a walk and a stolen base by 2B Jason Kipnis, then a double into right field by Brown.  

Gallagher came out to begin the 4th inning, but after a walk and two strikeouts, Gallagher had thrown 98 pitches (54 strikes), and he was relieved by Tony Watson.   Watson finished the 4th with a fly out, but he gave up a solo homer to Huffman, the first batter in the 5th inning.  He also gave up a walk and a single in the 6th, but kept the Clippers from scoring in that inning.

The Marauders had an early game today, for the school kids.  The Curve and the Power play later:

Bradenton Marauders  8,  Palm Beach Cardinals  1
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The Marauders swept a series for the first time this season with today's win over the Cardinals.  It was an early game following a late night, but the Marauders were awake and ready to go at 10 am, less than 12 hours after last night's rain-delayed game.  For the second game in a row, every member of the line-up reached base at least once.  

Phillip Irwin made his first start after coming out of extended spring training.  He went 2 innings, and allowed a run in the 1st, as he had to work around an error in each inning.  The top of the 1st began with a walk, then a stolen base, and the runner moved up to third when C Carlos Paulino's throw to second base went wild for an error.  That runner scored on the first of two singles, but Irwin closed down the inning with a strikeout and a ground out.  A fielding error by SS Benji Gonzalez put another runner on base in the 2nd, and after a stolen base and a walk, the Cardinals had runners on the corners.  Irwin got out of the jam with a fly out.  

The Marauders took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning without posting a hit.  LF David Rubinstein was hit by a pitch, then 1B Cole White walked.  Two wild pitches let Rubinstein score and put White on third base.  After a walk to 2B Kelson Brown, the third wild p itch of the inning let White come in to score.   A passed ball and two more walks, to CF Robbie Grossman and 3B Elevys Gonzalez, loaded the bases, but a fly out ended that inning without any further scoring.  The Marauders led 2-1.  

Brett Lorin took over for Irwin to begin the 3rd inning.  Lorin pitched 6 scoreless innings, scattering 6 hits and a walk, plus 4 strikeouts.  Palm Beach had 2 singles in the 4th, though the first runner was tagged out trying to reach third base on the second single.  The Cardinals also had 2 singles in the 6th, but Lorin was not worried by either of those threats.

The Marauders picked up some insurance runs in the 5th, with DH Aaron Baker having his second big-hitting game in a row.  Elevys Gonzalez walked and went to second on a wild pitch.  He scored on Baker's RBI double into center field.  After a walk to Rubinstein, Paulino singled in Baker.  A wild throw by the Cardinals' catcher on a pick-off throw allowed Rubinstein to score the third run of the inning, and the Marauders were up 5-1.  They added 2 more runs in the 6th.  Grossman lined a double into left field, and Elevys Gonzalez singled, moving Grossman to third.  Baker plated Grossman with a single into right field.  When the Cardinals' right fielder went to catch Rubinstein's fly ball and had his feet slip out from under him, that was ruled an error, and Gonzalez scored as well.  That gave the Marauders a 7-1 lead.  

The final run of the game came in the bottom of the 8th, when Grossman doubled into left field, Elevys Gonzalez singled, and RF Adalberto Santos brought in Grossman with a sacrifice fly.  Porfirio Lopez finished the game for Bradenton with a scoreless 9th inning, allowing just a single.  Lorin earned the win -- his first win of the season.
 

Columbus Clippers  6,  Indianapolis Indians  4
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A big inning by the Clippers and too many missed opportunities by the Indians added up to another loss for the Tribe as the two teams opened a 3-game series at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.  Neither starting pitcher made it out of the 4th inning.  3B Josh Harrison (photo) had two hits for the Indians and came around to score twice.


The Indians got started with an unearned run in the top of the 1st.  With one out, SS Chase d'Arnaud singled up the middle and LF Alex Presley singled into left field, sending d'Arnaud to third.  Presley stole second base, then 1B Matt Hague walked to load the bases.  DH Andy Marte grounded to short, where Columbus SS Cord Phelps had the ball pop out of his glove.  Everyone was safe on the error and d'Arnaud scored from third.  But the inning ended with a strikeout by C Dusty Brown, and all three runners were left on base.  Josh Harrison made it a 2-0 lead when he led off the top of the 2nd with a long and high blast into the left field bleachers.  

Brian Burres, in his fourth start of the season, zipped through the bottom of the 1st, thanks to a stunning play by Harrison at third.  His counterpart at third base, Lonnie Chisenhall, smacked a sharp grounder to third, where Harrison made the scoop, then made a throw across his body on the run, in time to nab Chisenhall at first.  Burres gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd, to RF Travis Buck, followed by a double by Phelps, though Burres was able to work around the double and leave Phelps on base.