Tag: Andy Marte

Indianapolis Indians  6,  Pawtucket Red Sox  3
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3B Andy Marte (photo) blasted a grand slam in the top of the 9th to boost the Indians to a win over the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.   

Brian Burres made the start for the Indians, though he did not figure into the decision tonight.  After retiring the PawSox in order in the 1st inning, Burres gave up a double to LF Daniel Nava with one out in the 2nd.  A walk to C Luis Expositio followed.  1B Matt Hague dropped a foul pop that should have been an out, giving 2B Brent Dlugach a second chance.  Dlugach took advantage of the opportunity, ripping a double on a line into left field, driving in Nava.  Exposito advanced to third base.  SS Jose Iglasias lined a single up the middle, and Exposito also scored.  Dlugach rounded third and headed for the plate, but was tagged out at the plate  when CF Gorkys Hernandez's throw to C Dusty Brown was on target and on time.  

Boston Red Sox' Bobby Jenks, with Pawtucket on a rehab assignment, pitched the first inning for the PawSox.  He threw 14 pitches (8 strikes) for a scoreless inning, though LF Alex Presley singled off Jenks, with a liner into center field.  

When Jenks finished his inning, he was relieved by the regularly scheduled starter, Matt Fox.  The first two Indians who faced Fox reached base -- Hague singled into left field, and Marte worked a walk.  Fox got out of the jam by striking out DH Jason Jaramillo, getting Brown to fly out, then doubling Hague off second base. 

Indianapolis Indians  4,  Pawtucket Red Sox  3
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The Indianapolis Indians posted 10 hits, all singles, to beat a former Indian on the mound for the Red Sox, at McCoy Field in Pawtucket, Rhode Island tonight.  Brandon Duckworth, who pitched for the Tribe in 2006 and earned an 8-3 record and a 2.42 ERA in 12 starts, could not get through the 5th inning tonight, as his former team handed him his 3rd loss of the season.  Indians' starter Rudy Owens (photo) earned his 4th win, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 5 hits.

Both starters pitched three scoreless innings to being their outings.  Owens retired the side in order in the 1st inning, then gave up lone singles, to LF Daniel Nava in the 2nd, and CF Che-Hsuan Lin in the 3rd.  Duckworth also retired the Indians in order in the 1st inning.  1B Matt Hague singled through the hole and into right field in the 2nd inning.  In the top of the 3rd, with two outs, 2B Josh Harrison walked, and CF Gorkys Hernandez singled up the middle, moving Harrison to second base.  The two runners both stole the next base, to give the Indians two runners in scoring position, but a ground out by LF Alex Presley ended the inning.  

Both teams scored one run in the 4th inning, and for both, the run was driven in by a sacrifice fly.  RF John Bowker led off the Tribe's top of the 4th with a walk.  Hague smacked his second single of the game, and DH Jason Jaramillo was hit on the chest below his arm to load the bases with one out.  C Dusty Brown, who had spent parts of the last 5 seasons playing for the PawSox, drove in the first Indians' run with a sacrifice fly.  In the bottom of the frame, Owens walked DH Hector Luna to begin the inning.  Luna advanced to second base on a ground out, then moved to third on a single by LF Daniel Nava, who slipped a grounder into center field, just past the diving reach of SS Brian Friday.  2B Tony Thomas brought in Luna with his sacrifice fly.  

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees  2,  Indianapolis Indians  1
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LF Alex Presley made the most exciting hit of the game, an inside-the-park home run, but that was the only run the Indians would score, as they lost to the Yankees at PNC Field in Moosic, PA this evening.   1B Matt Hague punched 3 hits for the Tribe, and starter Brad Lincoln struck out 7 batters in 6 innings, but even those were not enough.

The game got off to a late start, due to a nearly two-hour rain delay.  Lincoln (photo) got off to a bit of a shaky start in the bottom of the 1st, when he walked the first batter he faced, LF Austin Krum, then gave up a single to SS Ramiro Pena.  Then Lincoln got C Jesus Montero to bound to the newest Tribe player, SS Greg Picart, who started a 6-4-3 double play (Picart to 2B Josh Harrison to Hague).  A strikeout ended the inning without a run scoring.

Lincoln was not so lucky in the 2nd inning.  CF Justin Maxwell led off with an "oops" swing bunt along the third base line, which 3B Andy Marte was able to get to, but he did not have a play at first, and Maxwell was safe with a single.  Maxwell stole second base, then moved to third on 3B Brandon Laird's ground out.  2B Kevin Russo grounded a slow roller to second, where Harrison made the scoop and fired back to the plate, but the ball reached the plate after Maxwell did, for the Yankees' first run.  RF Dan Brewer walked, pushing Russo to second base.  DH Gustavo Molina grounded to second for what should have been an inning-ending double play.  Harrison got the ball to second base, for the force out on Brewer, but Picart was disrupted by Brewer's slide, and his throw to first base was wide on the outfield side of the bag. That allowed Russo to round third and score on the error, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.  

Indianapolis Indians  5,  Scranton /Wilkes-Barre Yankees  3
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The Indians' bullpen shut down the Yankees' bats in the second half of the game, as the Tribe took the first game of this 4-game series at PNC Field in Moosic, PA.  Starter Brian Burres earned his second win of the season, while RF John Bowker and C Jason Jaramillo contributed 2 RBI each.  

The Indians got right down to business in the top of the 1st, opening the game with back-to-back line drive singles into left field by SS Chase d'Arnaud and 2B Josh Harrison.  After a strikeout by LF Alex Presley, Bowker loaded the bases with a line drive single to right field.  1B Matt Hague (photo) made it four line drive singles (to left again), and his single drove in both d'Arnaud and Harrison to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees came right back with two runs off Tribe starter Brian Burres in the bottom of the 1st.  Burres got a ground out, then gave up a single to SS Romiro Pena, followed by a 2-run homer to C Jesus Montero.  LF Justin Maxwell struck out, then 1B Brandon Laird singled, and Burres walked 2B Kevin Russo.  A grounder to short by RF Dan Brewer forced Russo out at second base, to get Burres and the Indians out of the inning, with the score tied 2-2.
 
Burres settled in after that first inning.  Relying on his breaking ball and changeup, Burres retired the next 8 S/W-B batters in a row, before allowing a single in the 4th inning.  Brewer lifted a fly ball into right field, and advanced to second base on a fielding error by Bowker in right.  The error was made meaningless with a fly out to end the inning.  

Andy Marte (right) celebrates with Rudy Owens and Dusty Brown after his 2-run homer.  













Indianapolis Indians  3,  Buffalo Bison  2
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For the third year in a row, the Indianapolis Indians found that the pink breast cancer awareness jerseys brought them luck.  They beat the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field tonight, to win the 4-game series 3 games to 1.  Rudy Owens pitched 7 innings, allowing only one run on 7 hits for his third win of the season.  Former Pirate DJ Carrasco took the loss for the Bison.

This was Owens' (photo) first win in 5 weeks, and only the second game in which he pitched 7 innings (the other was on April 11th).  He did not walk any batters.  He had two strikeouts -- both on Carrasco, who also struck out Owens twice.  

Owens took advantage of three double plays in the first four innings.  His first two innings were twins.  The southpaw gave up a single (to 3B Luis Figueroa in the 1st and to 1B Valentino Pascucci in the 2nd), then got an out (pop up and fly out), then erased the base runner and ended the inning with a double play.  In the 1st, CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis bounced into a standard 4-6-3 (2B Josh Harrison to SS Chase d'Arnaud to 1B Matt Hague) double play.  In the 2nd, LF Jesus Feliciano grounded to first, where Hague stepped on first, then threw to second base where d'Arnaud tagged out Feliciano for the reverse force double play.  

Owens retired the Bison in order in the 3rd, but got into some trouble in the 4th.  Former Indy Indian Luis Figueroa zapped a grounder just inside the third base line and down into the left field corner, where LF John Bowker had to chase it down, as Figueroa raced to third base with a triple.  2B Michael Fisher lined a single up the middle, scoring Figueroa.  Then Owens returned to the first/second- inning form.  He got Nieuwenhuis to fly out, and got Pascucci to ground into an around the horn double play, started by 3B Andy Marte.

Trainer Brian Housand and Pitching Coach Tom Filer conference with pitcher Dan Meyer and catcher Dusty Brown, with plate umpire Mark Lollo listening in.





Buffalo Bison  5,  Indianapolis Indians  1
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After two days of being pounded by the Indians, the Buffalo Bison got their revenge this afternoon at Victory Field, as the Bison posted 12 hits in their win.  The Indians were held to just 5 scattered hits by the Buffalo pitching staff.  Buffalo starter Brian Sweeney earned his first win of the season and allowed the Indians only one run.

Sean Gallagher (photo) made the start for the Indians.  The plan had been to move Gallagher from the starting rotation to the bullpen, and he did make a relief appearance last week, coming in to take over for Garrett Olson, who had been injured.  But now, with Olson going onto the Disabled List, Gallagher has been moved back to the starting rotation.  The Bison jumped right on Gallagher in the top of the 1st inning.  After getting the first batter, former Indy Indian SS Luis Figueroa to pop up for the first out, Gallagher gave up a single to 2B Michael Fisher and a bunt single to C Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  1B Valentino Pascucci followed with a hard liner along the left field line for a double, driving in both Fisher and Nieuwenhuis for a 2-0 lead.  Gallagher left Pascucci on second base, ending the inning with a pop out and a ground out.  

Gallagher set the Bison down in order in the 2nd inning, but the Bison scored again in the 3rd.  Figueroa led off with another double down the left field line, similar to Pascucci's.  Fisher singled up the middle, and the speedy Figueroa scored from second base.  C Dusty Brown threw out Fisher as he tried to steal second base.  The next three Bison batters all reached base safely --  a grounder through the hole into left field by Nieuwenhuis, a 4-pitch walk to Pascucci, and C Mike Nickeas hit on the left wrist or forearm by a pitch.  Nickeas took his time moving down to first base, but was not able to stay in the game.  He was replaced by pinch-runner/catcher (another former Indy Indian) Raul Chavez.  That loaded the bases with one out for the Bison.  Gallagher got out of the jam by getting LF Jesus Feliciano to bounced into a double play, 2B Chase d'Arnaud to SS Pedro Ciriaco, to 1B John Bowker.

Alex Presley (7) had three hits and scored three times for the Indians tonight.  












Indianapolis Indians  10,  Buffalo Bison  1
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The Indianapolis Indians posted 16 hits and 10 runs as they stampeded the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field tonight.  Each position player in the Indians' lineup had at least one hit, and three players had 3 hits each:  CF Alex Presley, LF John Bowker, and C Dusty Brown.  Bowker contributed 4 RBI, while Brown and RF Andrew Lambo had 2 RBI each.  Justin Wilson earned the win with another very strong start, and rehabbing reliever Evan Meek pitched a scoreless 8th inning.  

The Indians got right down to business in the bottom of the 1st inning, when five of their first six batters singled.  2B Chase d'Arnaud started with a bouncer right back to the mound. The ball hit the leaping Buffalo starter Josh Stinson's glove and ricocheted 90 degrees to the left, landing over near the third base line.  That was all the time the speedy d'Arnaud needed to reach first base safely.  D'Arnaud promptly stole second base, and after SS Pedro Ciriaco popped out, d'Arnaud moved up to third base on Presley's (photo) first hit of the night, a single lined into right field.  A wild pitch by Stinson got away from his catcher Mike Nickeas and skittered over towards the visitor's dugout, far enough away that d'Arnaud was able to score from third, while Presley advanced to second.  Presley scored on Bowker's line drive into center field.  1B Matt Hague and 3B Josh Harrison both singled, loading the bases for Lambo.  Lambo grounded sharply to short, for what should have been a double play to end the inning.  Buffalo SS Luis Hernandez made the scoop and the toss to former Indy Indian 2B Luis Figueroa, forcing out Harrison at second, but Figueroa's relay to first pulled 1B Valentino Pascucci off the bag.  Lambo was safe, so Bowker scored from third.  Then, Hague, who had been on second base, rounded third and dashed for the plate, taking advantage of the Bison infielders having to regroup after the poor throw, and also taking advantage of the fact that they were not really paying attention to him.  Hague scored easily, giving Lambo 2 RBI on his fielder's choice.  Another grounder for a force out at second base ended the inning, with the Indians ahead, 4-0.  

Chase d'Arnaud slid in safely at third with a stolen base.
















Columbus Clippers  5,  Indianapolis Indians  2 
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The Indians and Clippers finally got some sunshine to play under, but the change in weather also brought a change in fortune.  The Indians' 4-game winning streak and the Clippers 4-game losing streak both came to an end, as the Clippers avoided being swept in this 4-game series at Victory Field.  


The Indians were held to just 4 hits, and half of them came off the bat of SS Chase d'Arnaud.  The Tribe batters were not able to take advantage of 3 walks either.  D'Arnaud opened the bottom of the 1st with his first hit, a cracked-bat bloop that fell in behind second base where none of the Clippers' fielders could get to it.  D'Arnaud stole second, coming in easily under a very high throw from former Indy Indian, C Luke Carlin (photo).  2B Brian Friday popped up to second base, then LF Alex Presley walked.  With RF John Bowker at the plate, d'Arnaud and Presley pulled off a double steal, to put both runners into scoring position.  Bowker hit a dribbly little "oops" ball to the left and in front of the mound, but with d'Arnaud off and running on the pitch, by the time Columbus starter Corey Kluber got to the ball, he had no play on d'Arnaud at the plate.  Bowker was out at first, but with an RBI, and the Indians had a 1-0 lead.  1B Matt Hague walked, and the Indians again had runners on the corners, but 3B Josh Harrison struck out to end the inning.  





Tribe starter Brian Burres (photo) retired the Clippers in order in the top of the 1st, but got into a little jam in the 2nd.  With one out, Burres gave up a single to DH Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis's grounder glanced off the end of d'Arnaud's glove as he stretched to make the play, and the ball ended up in center field.  Burres struck out LF Jerad Head next.  Kipnis stole second base, then 1B Wes Hodges worked a walk, to put runners on first and second base.  C Jason Jaramillo ended the inning for Burres with a throw down to first base.  Hodges was so far off the base, that the throw from Jaramillo beat him by a mile (ok, by 6 feet), and Hodges didn't even bother to slide.  

The Clippers tied the score in the top of the 3rd.  Burres got one out, then worked the count full on SS Luis Valbuena before walking him.  CF Ezequiel Carrera grounded slowly to first base, where Hague was able to make the scoop and step on the bag, but Valbuena was already sliding in to second base.  Valbuena came around to score from second base on 2B Cord Phelps' grounder down the first base line, just out of reach of Hague, who tried a dive to his left but could only tick the ball as it zipped past.  

The throw from first bounced off the runner Ezequiel Carrera and skipped past 2B Pedro Ciriaco.













Indianapolis Indians  7,  Columbus Clippers  3
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Another rainy day, an another win for the Indians.

The Tribe waited out a 95 minute delay before the game even started, then hung on through a drizzly rainy game, to win their fourth game in a row -- their longest winning streak of the season.  They also handed the first-place Columbus Clippers their fourth loss in a row.  Justin Thomas earned his second win of the season, and 2B Pedro Ciriaco blasted a huge 3-run homer, while 3B Brian Friday went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Rudy Owens (photo) made the start for the Tribe, but ended up not being involved in the decision.  Owens pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs, which came in the top of the 1st and involved a strange play.  Clippers' CF Ezequiel Carrera led off with a bunt single, which Owens could not get into his glove.   Owens made a pick-off throw to first as Carrera took off for second.  1B Matt Hague relayed the throw to second, but the ball bounced off the sliding Carrera and eluded 2B Ciriaco.  The ball skipped into left field, and Carrera advanced to third base, as Ciriaco was charged with a missed catch error.  RF Jerad Head tapped back to the mound.  Owens scooped up the ball, glared Carrera into staying put on third base, then threw to first for the out.  3B Lonnie Chisenhall was hit on the hip by a pitch to give the Clippers runners on the corners.  DH Chad Huffman slipped a grounder past a diving Hague, and Carrera scored from third base.  2B Jason Kipnis followed with a long fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly, which scored Chisenhall for a 2-0 lead.  

The Indians came right back to score one run in the bottom of the 1st off Columbus starter Zach McAllister.  With one out, Ciriaco reached base when 3B Chisenhall made the scoop but dropped the ball on the transfer.  CF Alex Presley blooped a single into short left field, which fell in between two Columbus fielders.  Ciriaco rounded second base and got partway to third, then got hung up as the Columbus LF Josh Rodriguez had the ball and was about to throw it in.  Ciriaco got out of his poor base-running when he made a dash for third, and Rodriguez made a poor throw to third base, as Ciriaco slid in safely.  Presley moved up to second base on the throw to third.  LF John Bowker grounded to short, collecting an RBI as Ciriaco scored from third to cut the Clippers' lead to 2-1.

Two critters on the field appreciated the weather tonight  (look above the umpire's head).







Indianapolis Indians  4,  Columbus Clippers  2
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The Indianapolis Indians won their third game in a row for the first time in the 2011 season as they beat the Clippers at Victory Field tonight.  Tonight's win was also the second in a row at home and the second in a row over the Clippers (the first win in the string was against the Durham Bulls in Durham).  It was also the third night in a row that the Indians allowed their losing opponent to rally and score in the last inning of the game, making things a little more excited than they ought to be.   

The weather was fit only for ducks (!), raining on and off the whole game, with the heaviest rain in the middle innings.  The game was not delayed or halted at any point, though.  

Garrett Olson (photo) made the start for the Indians.  He has been pitching in relief so far this season, and though he made a start in a "bullpen" game for the second game of a double header on April 25th, this was his first start since being officially moved to the starting rotation.  The Indians had stated that Olson would be on a pitch count of about 60, but he had thrown only 26 pitches (14 strikes) when he was lifted after 2 innings.  No word from the clubhouse as to why he left at that point.  Olson struck out the first two batters of the game, then ended the first inning with a fly out (14 pitches).  After a pop out to begin the top of the 2nd, Olson walked Columbus RF Jerad Head, but got 2B Jason Kipnis to bounce to first base, where 1B Matt Hague took one step to touch the first base bag for the out on Kipnis, then fired to second base, where SS Chase d'Arnaud tagged out Head for the reverse-force double play.  

D'Arnaud got the Indians going with a double down to the left field corner and off the wall to open the bottom of the 1st.  2B Pedro Ciriaco grounded through the hole and into left field for a single, moving d'Arnaud to third base.  CF Alex Presley grounded to second base, where Kipnis got the force out on Ciriaco and then threw to first for the double play.  D'Arnaud still scored from third on the play, but Presley did not get credit for an RBI.  The Indians didn't care about that, though -- they had a 1-0 lead.

Indianapolis Indians  6,  Norfolk Tides  2
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The Indianapolis Indians earned a split of both the 4-game series and the 8-game season series with the Norfolk Tides, with a win today at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.  Brad Lincoln (photo) earned his second win of the season, following a win in his last start -- his best two starts of the season.  LF Alex Presley provided the big offensive spark, with 3 hits for the second day in a row.  The Tribe posted 12 hits, all singles, with each member of the lineup getting at least one hit.  DH Andrew Lambo was the other batter with a multi-hit game, recording 2 singles and 2 RBI.  In past Mothers' Days and breast cancer awareness days, the Indians had taken advantage of the Magic Pink, using pink bats and jerseys to earn wins.  Today, with the Tides wearing the pink jerseys and wielding pink bats, the Indians had to make do with pink on their spikes, particularly Lincoln's entirely pink shoes.


The Indians missed a scoring opportunity in the top of the 1st, when the first three batters reached base safely.  SS Chase d'Arnaud walked, 2B Pedro Ciriaco lined a single just past the middle infielders and into center field, and Presley lifted his first hit of the game into center field to load the bases.  All three were left right there, though, when 1B Matt Hague and new RF John Bowker both struck out, and C Jason Jaramillo bounced out back to the mound.  3B Brian Friday also singled in the 2nd inning, but was caught stealing second base.  

The next time the Indians loaded the bases, they took advantage of the opportunity.  In the 3rd, the Tribe sent 8 batters to the plate, and scored 3 runs.  D'Arnaud led off with a single, and Ciriaco bunted him to second.  Presley (photo) slapped a grounder over the shoulder of Tides' 1B Rhyne Hughe's shoulder and into right field, and d'Arnaud came around from second to score the first run of the game.  A fielding error at third put Hague on first and moved Presley to second base, then Jaramillo worked a walk to load the bases with two outs.  Lambo came through on a 3-2 pitch, zipping a grounder up the middle, past the swipe of the pitcher's glove, and past the middle infielders through to the outfield.  Both Presley and Hague scored, to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.  There was a brief scare, when Jaramillo slid into second base then got up favoring his right ankle.  Manager Dean Treanor and the training staff checked him out, and Jaramillo was able to walk around a bit and remain in the game.  

Lincoln used the pink shoes to keep the Tides from scoring in the first three innings.  He gave up a lead-off single to RF Tyler Henson, then after two outs, another single to 3B Josh Bell, putting runners on the corners, but got out of the inning with a strikeout.  He also gave up a single to former Indy Indian C Michel Hernandez singled off Lincoln in the 2nd, and walked 2B Ryan Adams in the 3rd, but left them on base too.

Norfolk Tides  5,  Indianapolis Indians  2
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Justin Wilson (photo) pitched 4 strong innings, allowing just 2 hits and a walk tonight at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.  Unfortunately for Wilson and the Indians, those 4 innings followed a rough 1st inning, in which he gave up 3 runs on two singles and two doubles, causing Wilson to be charged with the loss.  

The Tides began the bottom of the 1st with three consecutive hits -- singles by CF Tyler Henson and former Indy Indian SS JJ Hardy.  LF Nolan Reimold doubled down the left field line and into the corner, driving in Henson and putting Hardy on third base.  After a strikeout, a passed ball skipped off C Dusty Brown's glove and all the way back to the backstop (passed ball), allowing Hardy to score.  3B Josh Bell bounced a grounder down the left field line for an RBI double, bringing in Reimold for a 3-0 lead.   

The first six Indians' batters went down in order, before RF Andrew Lambo led off the 3rd inning with a grounder that bounced right onto the first base bag, over a Tides' infielder, and down the right field line into the corner.  That put Lambo onto second base, and he moved up to third on a grounder by CF Gorkys Hernandez.  He got no further, though, as DH Corey Wimberly flied out.