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Indianapolis Indians 9,

The Indianapolis Indians appeared to be glad to have a change in venue. �They cruised into Buffalo after an overnight trip on a sleeper bus, and cruised through the game at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, NY on Saturday night. �Pitcher Eric Hacker (photo) was the third starter in a row to pitch 7 strong innings, and unlike Charlie Morton and Virgil Vasquez in the previous two games, Hacker was backed up by his teammates' bats. �It was Hacker's first win as a member of the Tribe. �LF Larry Broadway (photo below) went 3-for-4 and hit his 3rd home run of the season, and 1B Steve Pearce and 3B Luis Cruz had two hits each, including a home run for Cruz.

Hacker threw 96 pitches, with an amazing 70 of them strikes over his 7 innings. �He allowed only 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 4 batters. �The walk and the first hit came with two outs in the bottom of the 1st inning. �RF Matt Watson worked the count full and fouled off four more pitches before taking ball four. �Then 1B Wily Mo Pena lifted an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a 2-run homer. �That was all the scoring the Bison would do for the rest of the night. �The remaining three hits Hacker gave up were all 2-out singles: �to 2B Luis Rivera in the 2nd inning, to Watson in the 6th, and to SS Jonathan Malo in the 7th. �Malo tried to go to second base when the throw in from Larry Broadway in left field got away from SS Brian Bixler, who was covering second base. �The ball bounced over towards first base, and Malo scrambled for second. �Steve Pearce alertly scooped up the ball and threw to second, where Bixler easily applied the tag and Malo was out to end the inning. �Malo also reached base in the 5th, when Hacker dropped a pop up for an error, but he was immediately erased with a double play.�

The Tribe batters clearly remembered to pack their bats for the trip to Buffalo. �They let the Bison have their 2-0 lead only briefly. �In the top of the 2nd inning, RF Garrett Jones got the rally started with a walk, and he quickly stole 2nd base, for his 10th steal of the season. �Steve Pearce rapped a grounder that glanced off the mitt of 2B Luis Rivera and into right field for an RBI single, as Jones scored. �Larry Broadway got his first hit of the night on a looper into center field, moving Pearce to second base. �Then Luis Cruz blasted a line drive over the left field wall for a 3-run homer. �With a 4-2 lead, the Indians never looked back.

Two-out hits seemed to be a theme in the game, and the Indians played along. �In the 4th, with two outs, C Erik Kratz (photo) slipped a single between third and short, and Luis Cruz doubled him home, tagging the first pitch he saw to the base of the left field wall. �Cruz went to third base on the relay throw which was wide and on the first base side of home plate. �When the ball bounced off Bison C Robinson Cancel's glove and to the backstop (ruled an error), Cruz saw that pitcher Lance Broadway was not covering the plate, and he raced home. �Indians 6, Bison 2.

The Tribe added another run in the 5th. �Brian Bixler led off with another shot to the base of the left field wall for a double. �Steve Pearce singled up the middle, just out of reach of the diving 2B Rivera, plating Bixler. �That sent Bison starter Lance Broadway to the showers. �Reliever Tim McNab came on, and was greeted by our Broadway (Larry), who singled into right field, before Erik Kratz's grounder ended the inning.

Larry Broadway added his third hit in the 8th inning. �Steve Pearce had reached base on a play that was ruled a fielding error, when his grounder to shortstop Malo took a last-second high hop. �Broadway followed with a rising line drive over the right field wall for a 2-run homer, giving the Indians a 9-2 lead. �

Brian Slocum, who pitched for Buffalo over the past 3 seasons when they were part of the Cleveland organization (this season they are the Mets' affiliate), came on to relieve Eric Hacker to begin the 8th inning. �Again with two outs, Slocum gave up two singles, to CF Cory Sullivan and LF Jesus Feliciano. �It was the biggest threat the Bison had made since the first inning, but it didn't last long. �Slocum struck out Matt Watson to end the inning. �In the 9th, the Bison had their lead-off runner on base for only the second time in the game (the other was in the 5th, when Malo reached on Hacker's error), as Wily Mo Pena led off with a single. �Slocum was easily able to work around it, with two fly outs and a grounder for a force out, and that ended the game.

Indians' Hitting Gem of the Game: �Luis Cruz's (photo) 3-run homer in the 2nd inning, which put the Indians ahead to stay.

Defensive Gem of the Game: �Seven strong innings by Eric Hacker, not even letting anyone past first base after the first inning. �

Neil Walker (photo) did not go with the team to Buffalo, but instead headed over to Pittsburgh, to have his left knee further examined. �When he slid into first base on Tuesday night, he got up holding his left hand and the immediate problem was a dislocated little finger. �The finger is doing fine, but his knee has become the issue now, and that's what is going to be keeping him out of the lineup. �

Andrew McCutchen had a 2-RBI single in the 2nd inning for the Pirates on Saturday. �He went 1-for-5 at the plate in his third major league game.

Go Tribe!

[Photos by Nancy Zinni -- MVN]