Tag: Jeremy Powell

The Indianapolis Indians have announced their End of Season Awards for 2010:

�

MVP:� Brandon Moss

�

�

With two games to go, Moss is leading the International League's active players with 95 RBI.� He has the team-best 22 home runs (4th in the league) and 31 doubles in 134 games for the Tribe, with a .265 batting average.� He also leads the team in games played, as well as runs (72), hits (131), and total bases (232).� The 22 homers is his personal best for a season.� Moss was also the team's Player of the Month for July, when he hit .315 with 8 doubles, 8 homers, and 31 RBI, and reached base in 24 of his 28 games.� He had a 12-game hitting streak in mid-July.

�

.

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

.

�

�

Rookie of the Year:� Alex Presley

�

Presley joined the Indians at the end of June.� He had been hitting .350� for the Altoona Curve prior to his promotion, with13 doubles, 7 triples, 6 homers, and 47 RBI.� He also had a 21-game hitting streak while with the Curve.� Since joining the Indians, Presley has barely slowed down.� He is hitting .300 with 15 doubles, 6 triples, 6 homers, and 37 RBI, with 2 games to go.� He hit .346 in June and .330 in July.

Presley's most exciting game with the Indians was only his third after joining the team.�� In that game, he went 5-for-6 and hit for the cycle -- the first time an Indians' player has done so at Victory Field.� He also had a long hitting streak (13 games) in mid-July, and had 5 hits in the July 19th game.

�

.

John Bowker homered in the 4th

�

�

�

�

�

Columbus Clippers� 6,� Indianapolis Indians� 4 ..�� (box)

The Indianapolis Indians could not keep up with the Columbus Clippers tonight at Victory Field, and the combination of the Indians' loss and the Clippers' win officially eliminated the Indians from any chance of making the International League playoffs as the wild card team.� The Louisville Bats lost to the Toledo Mud Hens, 6-2, so the Clippers have edged closer to the Bats, who are clinging to a half-game lead in the IL West Division.

The Indians and Clippers traded the lead back and forth in the middle innings of this game, but a 3-run 6th inning sealed the win for Columbus.� Jeremy Powell (photo) made his 20th start of the season for the Indians, and he suffered his 9th loss, allowing all 6 runs on 9 hits and a walk, with 3 strikeouts.� The Clippers got right down to business in the top of the 1st.� Lead-off batter RF Jose Constanza smacked Powell's first pitch on a line drive into center field, then hustled his way to second base before CF Alex Presley could get the ball back to the infield.� Powell got CF Ezequiel Carrera to ground out and got 2B Drew Sutton to pop out to 3B Akinori Iwamura in foul territory.� Then Powell got a 0-2 count on DH Wes Hodges, and was one strike away from escaping the inning unscathed -- until Hodges took the next pitch over the wall in dead center field, landing just behind the camera well for a 2-run homer.� 1B Jordan Brown followed the home run with a double to the warning track in right field.� Powell hit 3B Jared Goedert with a pitch, but both Brown and Goedert were left on base when LF Matt McBride flied out to left.

Not to be outdone, Aki Iwamura homered in the bottom of the 1st inning, taking the ball to almost exactly the same spot over the center field wall and behind the camera well -- no more than 5 feet away -- cutting the Clippers' lead to 2-1.� One out later, DH Brandon Moss was hit by a pitch from Columbus starter Yohan Pino.� Even though neither plunk appeared to be overtly intentional, home plate umpire Alan Porter must have decided he didn't want to have anyone even think about escalating anything, and so he stepped out and clearly warned Pino, Powell in the dugout, and both managers.� Moss ended the inning with a poor base running move -- he was caught out in the middle of nowhere on the base path, and easily caught stealing.

Indianapolis Indians� 6,� Louisville Bats� 2 ..��� (box)

Both the Indianapolis Indians and the Louisville Bats slammed two home runs, but our big dingers were bigger than your big dingers.� The Bats' homers were both solo shots, while the Indians' had a 2-run homer and a 3-run homer.� The Indians home runs both came in the 1st inning, giving starter Jeremy Powell (photo) an early cushion, as he won his team-high 10th win of the season.� This is the first time since 2006 that Powell has had as many as 10 wins in a season.

The big 1st inning was just about all the Indians needed.� The inning began with LF Kevin Melillo rocketing a low liner right back at the mound, where it struck pitcher Matt Klinker on the leg.� Klinker was able to locate the ball and get it over to first base in time to get the out.� He convinced Bats' manager Rick Sweet and the training staff that he was ok.... but the rest of the inning did not bear that out.� He walked the next batter, 2B Akinori Iwamura. Then CF Alex Presley slammed a no-doubt-about-it homer over the right-center field wall.� The Louisville outfielders did not bother trying to chase it -- it was clearly already gone.� Klinker hit the next two Tribe batters -- RF Brandon Moss was plunked in the back, and 3B Mitch Jones was only grazed on the jersey.� That brought up 1B Brian Myrow, who was making his first start since coming off the Disabled List.� Myrow showed that the DL stint hasn't slowed him down, with the second home run of the inning, taking a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall for 3 runs.� Klinker began to right himself after that, striking out both C Jason Jaramillo and SS Doug Bernier to end the inning.

Klinker was fine after that, though the damage had already been done.� He allowed the Indians only one more hit over the next 5 innings, though he did walk 2 more batters.� Doug Bernier singled with one out in the 4th, and advanced to second base on Jeremy Powell's sacrifice bunt, but got no further.� Aki Iwamura walked in the 2nd inning, and he also reached on an error when 2B Wilkin Castillo dropped his ground ball in the 5th.� Alex Presley walked after Iwamura got on base, but Iwamura was doubled off second base when Brandon Moss lined out to first base, and Presley was out in a grounder force out to end the inning.

Indianapolis Indians� 1,� Toledo Mud Hens� 0 (box)

Indians' starter Jeremy Powell earned his 9th win of the season with 7.1 shutout innings against the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio tonight.� Powell walked 5 batters and hit one, but he allowed only 2 hits.� The Indians posted only 4 hits, but made them count, as they squeaked past the Mud Hens.

The first three Indians' batters of the game did all the scoring the Indians needed.� LF Kevin Melillo opened the game by taking a walk on four straight balls.� Melillo quicky stole second base, then moved over to third when 3B Akinori Iwamura lined a single into center field.� With runners on the corners, CF Alex Presley (photo) slipped a single through the hole on the right side of the infield, scoring Melillo from third and putting Iwamura on second base.� The rally came to an abrupt halt, when RF Brandon Moss flied out to center field, and Iwamura was out at third as he tried to tag up after the catch, on a fine throw in from CF Casper Wells.� DH John Bowker struck out to end the inning.

That was it -- the rest of the game was two rows of donuts on the scoreboard.� The Indians clung to that one-run lead, as Jeremy Powell (photo below) and two relievers, Justin Thomas and Jean Machi, threw 9 shutout innings.� After the game, Powell admitted that he had not felt really comfortable on the mound and with how he was pitching early in the game, and the walks went along with that.� Powell threw 108 pitches, for strikes, but he threw key pitches when it counted.� He walked two batters in the 1st and one in the 2nd, but left them on base.� He walked 2B Scott Sizemore to begin the 3rd inning, but got 3B Justin Henry to bounce into a double play.

The Mud Hens' first hit of the game came in the 4th, when Casper Wells led off with a single into left field.� Moments later, C Jason Jaramillo threw out Wells as he tried to steal second base.� The other hit was a two-out double by SS Cale Iorg in the 5th.� Powell walked Sizemore again to put two Mud Hens on the bases, but then he got Henry to tap back to the mound for an easy third out.� Powell retired the Mud Hens in order in both the 6th and 7th innings, and he made it 8 straight batters retired when he got Iorg to fly out to center to begin the 8th.� Then he hit Sizemore (who walked 3 times in the game, so did not have an official at bat) with a pitch, and that was the end of Powell's night.� "I was happy with my last couple of innings, and all I can say is that I was able to go deep into the game and keep the one-run lead," said Powell after the game.

Toledo native Justin Thomas relieved Powell with one out and one on in the 8th.� He did walk LF Jeff Frazier, but got a strikeout on either side of the walk, to end the inning and keep the shutout going.� The southpaw Thomas came back out to begin the bottom of the 9th, to pitch to the first Toledo batter, left-handed hitting 1B Michael Bertram.� Bertram popped out to third base.� Then manager Frank Kremblas brought on the righty Jean Machi to face the next batter, right-handed hitting RF Ben Guez. Guez lifted a long long fly ball to right field, making the crowd gasp.� RF Brandon Moss went back and back, and with his own back against the right field wall, made the catch for the second out.� Switch-hitting DH Max Leon worked the count full, then took a high and outside pitch from Machi for a walk, but Machi needed only one pitch to get C Max St. Pierre to pop out to 2B Brian Friday in short center field to end the game.

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

Syracuse Chiefs� 4,� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

�

Like yesterday, the Indians had an early lead in this afternoon's game against the Syracuse Chiefs at Victory Field.� Like yesterday, the Chiefs' late inning rallies had them catching up and taking the lead.� But, unlike yesterday, today, the Indians could not stage a last-minute rally for the dramatic win.� Rehabbing right-hander Chris Jakubauskas (photo above) could not hold off the Chiefs, and he suffered the loss.

�

Jeremy Powell (photo) made the start for the Indians, under yet another 90+ degree sunny sky.� For the first 6 innings, he was brilliant.� He retired the side in order in half of his innings.� He worked around a one-out single by C Wilson Ramos in the 2nd inning.� Ramos singled again with two outs in the 4th, but Powell ended the inning by inducing a pop out.� He also worked around a one-out double by opposing pitcher Jordan Zimmerman in the 3rd.� Zimmerman surprised almost everyone in the stadium by ripping a line drive to the 418' sign in left-center field.� For anyone else, that would have been an easy triple, but not wanting to overtax the pitcher, particularly in the heat,� Zimmerman started slowing down shortly after he rounded first base, and all but walked into second base, where he watched LF Kevin Melillo's throw come back to the infield.

Melillo got the Tribe out to a good start with a lead-off single in the bottom of the 1st, though he was left stranded.� The Indians had two runners on in the 2nd inning, when 1B John Bowker (photo, on right) lined a single into right field, and SS Pedro Ciriaco bunted to the left side of the mound, where Zimmerman could not find the handle on the ball to make a throw.� 2B Brian Friday popped up, and the infield fly rule was invoked.� That brought up Jeremy Powell with two outs, and he could only bounce a grounder to short, ending the inning with the two runners on base.

The first Indians' run came in the 3rd inning.� With one out, 3B Akinori Iwamura worked a walk.� Then CF Alex Presley worked his magic again, taking a long bouncer just barely fair down the right field line.� The carom off the wall in the right field corner fooled Syracuse RF Leonard Davis, and while Davis was busy chasing down the ball, Iwamura scored and Presley cruised into third base with a triple.� Indians up, 1-0.� The inning ended without further runs scoring.� RF Brandon Moss's oops-swing lifted a low, twisting flop of a fly right to Chiefs' 3B Pete Orr.� Presley had been taking a lead, and he could not get back to the bag in time, so was doubled off to end the inning.

�

�

�

�

�

�

a lot of jawing going on

�

�

�

�

Norfolk Tides� 9,� Indianapolis Indians� 1 (box)

Norfolk Tides' starter Chris Tillman pitched into the 7th inning and struck out 9 Tribe batters as the Tides easily washed over the Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Indians' starter Jeremy Powell (photo) had a rough outing, and did not get through the 4th inning, as he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits.

Powell allowed at least one base runner on in each of his 4 innings, though he did have a bit of luck in the top of the 1st.� CF Matt Angle opened the game with a double into the right-center field gap.� He moved to third base when one of Powell's pitches to SS Robert Andino came up and in and high, and got past C Jason Jaramillo for a wild pitch.� Andino struck out, then Powell struck out former Indy Indian RF Jeff Salazar.� On strike three to the left-handed hitting Salazar, Jaramillo hopped up and fired down to third base, surprising Angle, who was a little too far off the bag.� 3B Akinori Iwamura was easily able to tag out Angle to end the inning.

Unfortunately, there was not much more luck going for Powell.� In the 2nd inning, with one out, DH Michael Aubrey smacked a sharp grounder to the right of 2B Brian Friday. Friday was able to make the diving stop, but had no time to throw Aubrey out at first.� Aubrey went to second base on 1B Brandon Snyder's ground out.� Then 3B Scott Moore rocketed a rising line drive out of the park just inside the right field foul pole for a 2-run homer.

Three straight hits off Powell gave the Tides another run in the 3rd.� With one out, Andino tripled into the left-center field alley, with the ball rolling to the wall in the deepest part of Victory Field.� Salazar brought Andino in with a bloop single into short center field.� Salazar was thrown out trying to steal second base -- the first time this season that Salazar has been caught stealing, in 17 attempts.� LF Nolan Reimold grounded a single up the middle, just out of reach of SS Pedro Ciriaco, but he was left stranded when Powell struck out Aubrey.

Things got worse in the 4th.� Brandon Snyder began the inning with a line drive down the right field line and into the corner.� Powell walked Moore, and C Adam Donachie, just arrived from AA Bowie, dropped down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third bases.� 2B Paco Figueroa grounded toward short, where the ball scooted past the diving Ciriaco, who might have been distracted by Moore, who was running in front of him and between Ciriaco and the oncoming ground ball.� It was ruled a hit, and Snyder came in to score.� Angle drove a high bouncer just barely inside the chalk line and into the right field corner for a triple, plating both Moore and Figueroa, and the Tides had a 6-0 lead.� That brought up Andino.� When Powell's first pitch came in tight and hit Andino's jersey, Andino took exception (remember that high and tight wild pitch in the first inning? ).� Andino stood at the plate and yelled out at Powell.� He was restrained by the home plate umpire and Jaramillo, and by his own teammates who quickly came out of the dugout.� Powell returned the jawing, and took several steps toward the plate, but was also blocked by the umpires and his teammates.� Manager Frank Kremblas kept the rest of the Indians' bench from emptying, and after a bit more yelling and milling around, order was restored (photo here and at the top).� No one was ejected, but Kremblas decided that it was a good time to end Powell's night.

�

Indianapolis Indians� 5,� Norfolk Tides� 3 (box)

The Indianapolis Indians avoided being swept out to sea by the Tides with a 5-3 victory at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia this afternoon.� Starter Jeremy Powell (photo) earned his 8th win of the season, and reliever Joe Martinez earned a Save in his Indians' debut.� Another debuting Indian, 1B/RF John Bowker, made a good impression with a 3-for-4 day at the plate including 2 doubles and an RBI.

The game began with the Tribe batters securing a nice packet of run support for their starter Powell, as they batted around in the top of the 1st.� The first four batters reached base safely.� LF Kevin Melillo led off with a double into center field, and a wild pitch sent Melillo to third.� SS Pedro Ciriaco blooped a single into right, scoring Melillo with the first run of the game.� Ciriaco stole second base, then advanced to third base on CF Alex Presley's single through the hole into right field.� The hot-hitting DH Brandon Moss added a double, bringing in both Ciriaco and sending Presley to third.� After a strikeout by the rehabbing RF Ryan Doumit, newcomer John Bowker began his Indians' career with an RBI single that plated Presley.� Norfolk starting pitcher Chris Tillman tried a pick-off throw, but it went wild, and Moss scored from third base.� 3B Jim Negrych also singled, moving Bowker to second base.� Both were left on base when two strikeouts ended the inning, but the Indians had secured a 4-0 lead for Powell.

Powell missed a complete game shutout by a strike in his last start (July 29th), and today he looked just as good.� He retired the first 15 batters he faced, including 3 strikeouts, zipping through 5 innings.� But in the 6th, Powell began to struggle.� He gave up a lead-off walk to 1B Brandon Snyder and a single to former Indy Indian (2008) C Michel Hernandez.� A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position.� CF Matt Angle singled, scoring Snyder, and former Indy Indian (2009) RF Jeff Salazar lifted a sacrifice fly, allowing Hernandez to score.� One more single, by SS Robert Andino, drove in Angle, and the Tides had come within a run of the Indians, 4-3.� Powell was relieved by Corey Hamman, who finished the inning with a strikeout.

�

Indianapolis Indians� 4,� Syracuse Chiefs� 1 (box)

Indians' starter Jeremy Powell (photo) won his 7th game of the season for the Indians tonight at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, NY.� The win gave the Indians their fourth win in a row, and 3 wins in this 4-game series against the Chiefs, which concludes tomorrow.� But it was not entirely the way that Powell or the Indians hoped it would end.

Powell pitched into the 9th inning, keeping a shut-out going the whole time.� He sailed through the first 8 innings, striking out 5 batters and scattering 5 hits.� Powell gave up a single to LF Boomer Whiting to open the bottom of the 1st, but C Luke Carlin threw him out trying to steal second base.� Powell retired the next 10 batters in order, until he gave up a single and a walk in the 4th.� He allowed a single in each of the 5th and the 7th, and when C Jamie Burke walked to lead off the 8th, he was erased in a double play.

The Indians went into the bottom of the 9th with a 4-0 lead, and with Powell just a step away from a complete game shut-out.� He began the inning with a strikeout of Justin Maxwell.� 2B Chase Lambin slipped a line drive into right field for a single.� Powell struck out 1B Jason Botts, and that put him an out away from the goal.� SS Seth Bynum was up next, and he got to a 1-2 count, then took 2 pitches that looked pretty good, but were both called balls.� The Indians and Powell felt that he had been cheated out of what should have been another strikeout, and the end of the game.� Instead of being out, Bynum lined a single up the middle and into center field, and that allowed Lambin to score. That was the end of the shutout.

The Indians had reliever Justin Thomas up in the bullpen, and he was ready, but manager Frank Kremblas elected to give Powell the chance to get the final out.� But when 3B Pete Orr dropped a little bunt in front of the mound, Powell's throw to first base was wide for a throwing error, and Bynum moved to third base.� That was all for Powell.� He had thrown 115 pitches (75 strikes), and had allowed one run on 7 hits and 2 walks, with 7 strikeouts.

Justin Thomas did come in at that point, and he finished things up by getting a ground out, to earn his 4th save.� The Indians and Powell were still not pleased, and they went so far as to try to talk to plate umpire Chris Bakke after the last out, even heading toward the umpire's tunnel after him.� It did no good, of course.

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

Mound conference

�

�

�

�

Indianapolis Indians� 8,� Charlotte Knights� 5 (box)

For the second night in a row, the Indians had an exciting 6th inning that gave them the lead and the eventual win over the Charlotte Knights.� Tonight, five consective hits in the 6th, with RBI from LF Kevin Melillo, 2B Akinori Iwamura, and 1B Jeff Clement, powered the Indians to the win at Victory Field.

�

Jeremy Powell made the start for the Indians tonight -- his first start in almost three weeks.� (He's had three relief appearances in that interval.)� Powell breezed through the first two innings, allowing only a walk to SS Luis Rodriguez in the 1st.� He got into a little trouble in the 3rd inning, when he gave up two hits for a run.� 1B Jeremy Reed led off with a double to the base of the center field wall, and was moved over to third base by 2B Rob Hudson's sacrifice bunt.� LF Alejandro De Aza slipped a line drive past 2B Aki Iwamura and into right-center field, scoring Reed from third base.� De Aza was also bunted along, putting him on second base, and he proceeded to steal third base.� Powell struck out CF Buck Coats to end the inning and leave De Aza on third.

Powell retired the Knights in order in the 4th inning, and nearly got out of the 5th inning unscathed.� With one out in the 5th, Jeremy Reed picked up his second hit of the game, a bunt that came to a stop in no-mans'-land in front of third base and to the side of the mound.� By the time 3B Jim Negrych got to the ball, he had no play at first.� Rob Hudson grounded slowly to short, fielded cleanly by SS Argenis Diaz. Diaz made the quick toss to Aki Iwamura at second base to force out Reed, and Iwamura fired on to Jeff Clement at first.� But Hudson just barely beat out the throw to first, so instead of getting out of the inning with a double play, Powell still had to work with two outs and a runner on first.� That brought up Alejandro De Aza, who drilled a triple down the right field line and into the corner for a triple, bringing in Hudson with the Knights' second run.

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

Conference time

�

�

�

�

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs� 4,�� Indianapolis Indians� 2 (box)

Back-to-back home runs in the 3rd inning was all the Iron Pigs needed to beat the Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Former Indianapolis Indian CF Chris Duffy smacked the first homer, and 2B Ozzie Chavez followed with the second.

The start of the game was delayed by nearly 90 minutes, though it wasn't raining, and in fact the sun was shining for part of that time.� The sun was not shining in downtown Indianapolis at around 5 pm, though.� That's when a sudden downpour sprang up with virtual no warning, catching the Victory Field ground crew without the tarp on the field.� By the time the tarp could be spread, quite a lot of water had gotten onto the infield.� Shortly before 6 pm, the tarp was pulled back and the crew went to work, first on the third base line and the third base and home plate areas, then later on the opposite side of the infield.� Several times in the process there was a conference on the field (photo above), including Lehigh Valley manager Dave Huppert, two of the umpires (black shirts on the left), head groundskeeper Joey Stevenson (red shirt), Indians' assistant general manager Randy Lewandowski (white shirt), and Indians' manager Frank Kremblas (far right).� It took the crew more than 2.5 hours to get the infield into a safe and playable condition, and the game began at about 8:30 pm.

Daniel McCutchen (photo) made the start for the Indians, and he generally looked sharp.� He threw 80 pitches (52 strikes) over 5 innings, and was only removed at that point because his turn in the batting order came around in the bottom of the 5th and the Indians had a runner on base and were trying to catch up.

McCutchen gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk, and struck out 5 batters.� He retired the side in order only one time, in the 5th.� He worked around one base runner in the 1st (a walk to LF Domonic Brown), in the 2nd (a single by C Dane Sardinha), and the 4th (he hit Sardinha with a pitch).� The only inning that gave him any serious trouble was the 3rd.

That inning began with Iron Pigs' pitcher JA Happ taking a 2-2 pitch down the right field line and into the corner for a double.� Happ is a lifetime .070 hitter, who has had one previous double, in 2009.� Chris Duffy took McCutchen's next pitch for a ride over the wall in right-center field, for a no-doubt 2-run homer.� Then Ozzie Chavez also hit the first pitch from McCutchen ove rthe right field wall, to the right of where Duffy's sailed out.� McCutchen took a deep breath, and struck out the next batter, Domonic Brown, then ended the inning with two ground outs.� After the homers, McCutchen faced only one batter over the minimum for the rest of his might, and that was when he hit Sardinha with a pitch.

Indianapolis Indians� 10, �� Rochester Red Wings� 7 (box)

�

Two 4-run innings helped the Indians overcome a shaky start by Charlie Morton, as the Indians held on to beat the Red Wings at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY tonight.� Twice the Indians took the lead and twice the Red Wings tied it up.� The third time the Tribe took a lead, the Red Wings rallied again and got within one run, before the Indians took a definitive lead with their second 4-run inning.� The two teams combined for 17 runs on 28 hits, and the Red Wings out-hit the Indians, 16 - 12.� CF Alex Presley (photo) led the Tribe with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored.

�

Charlie Morton got into trouble almost with his first pitch.� The first two batters he faced, RF Brian Dinkleman and SS Trevor Plouffe both ripped line drives for two singles.� LF Jacque Jones also hit a long ball, but luckily, it was more of a fly, and it fell into the glove of Alex Presley in center field.� DH Jose Morales grounded to first, where 1B Brian Myrow turned and threw for the force out on Plouffe at second base.� That put runners on the corners, but Morton got a strike out on 2B Brendan Harris to get himself out of the jam.

DH Jeff Clement gave Morton (photo) a boost with a solo home run to lead off the top of the 2nd inning -- over the right field wall, over the bullpen, over the high wall behind the bullpen, and into a right field picnic area.� Morton, now with a one-run lead, got right back into trouble in the bottom of the inning, with two singles and a walk.� A lead-off single by 3B D'Angelo Jimenez was erased with a double play, SS Argenis Diaz to 2B Jim Negrych to 1B Brian Myrow (6-4-3).� C Wilson Ramos singled into left field, and CF Dustin Martin walked and Morton again was working with two runners on base.� Dinkelman drove a liner into right field, but Tribe RF Brandon Moss made a long run and made the catch at his shoetops to end the inning and again get Morton out of a jam.

Morton's luck did not hold in the 3rd.� Plouffe reached base on a throwing error by his counterpart at short, Argenis Diaz.� Morales singled, pushing Plouffe to second base, and Morton's wild pitch put Plouffe on third.� Harris lifted a sacrifice fly, and Plouffe scored an unearned run to tie the game at 1-1.

The Tribe wasted an opportunity in the 4th, when 3B Akinori Iwamura and Brian Myrow worked back-to-back walks to open the inning.� A coaching visit to the mound settled down Rochester starter Matt Fox, who got two fly outs and a strikeout to end the inning without a run scoring.� The Red Wings also missed out on an opportunity in the 4th, when Wilson Ramos singled, but was erased as he headed for second base in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play.

The Indians were leading the Mud Hens 6-3 in the 6th...

FINAL:� Indianapolis Indians� 6,� Toledo Mud Hens� 4 (box)

�

The big news, even before the game began, was the player moves made by the Pittsburgh Pirates.� With pitcher Zach Duke done with his rehab assignment in Altoona and ready to come back onto the Pirates' active roster, someone else had to be removed from the roster.� That someone is reliever Justin Thomas, who has been optioned back to the Indians.

Secondly, the Pirates have announced that they are optioning back-up catcher Jason Jaramillo to Indianapolis.� The reason given is that he has had minimal playing time during the first half of the season, and needs to get the work in.� Jaramillo will become the regular catcher in Indianapolis after the All-Star break.� The Pirates have also moved pitcher Chris Jakubauskas to the 60-day disabled list, opening up a spot on the 40-man roster.� So, who will take his place?

The Pirates intend to make that announcement later in the week.� Possibilities include Indians' Erik Kratz and Luke Carlin, and Altoona Curve catcher Hector Gimenez (who played for the Indians in 2009).� Kratz is the Indians' only representative for the AAA All-Star game, which will be played on Wednesday in Lehigh Valley -- just a short hop from Kratz's home town.� He has a lot of family and friends coming to see him play, though he will not be the starting catcher in the game.� SO -- is the delay in the Pirates' announcement so that they can give Kratz time to participate in the All-Star game?� If he were pulled at the last minute, it might be tricky to get someone else there to represent the Indians.� Carlin has only just come back from his ankle injury and is not entirely up to speed yet.� Gimenez could certainly handle things at the major league level -- but what would that say to Erik Kratz?� "Sure, Erik, you're a great guy and we were considering you for the major league back-up back in March, and sure, you are an All-Star for two years running at the AAA level -- but we're going to promote Gimenez from AA over you.� Oh, and when you get back to Indy, you won't be the starting catcher either."

�

Back to the game.. which was delayed for about 15 minutes before even starting, then halted again due to rain in the 2nd inning.� That delay lasted over an hour.

LF Kevin Melillo got the Indians started with a double driven into right field to begin the game.� 3B Akinori Iwamura followed with a single into right field, and Melillo raced around from second to score.�� The Mud Hens came right back in the bottom of the frame, against Tribe starter Dana Eveland. SS Will Rhymes led off with a single through into left field, then Eveland struck out 3B Brent Dlugach.� LF Ryan Strieby doubled, moving Rhymes to third, and DH Jeff Larish brought in both Rhymes and Strieby with a single up the middle, to give the Mud Hens a 2-1 lead.� Eveland walked 1B Jeff Frazier, but then got CF Casper wells to bounce into a double play, ending the inning.

Eveland had gotten two outs and had 2B Max Leon on first base after a single when the rain halted play in the bottom of the 2nd.� The delay was long enough so that Eveland did not come back out, with workhorse Jeremy Powell taking the mound instead.� Powell ended the 2nd inning, then pitched two more scoreless innings, allowing only a walk.