Tag: Pedro Ciriaco

Indianapolis Indians  3,  Syracuse Chiefs  0
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Thursday was a very good day for Indianapolis Indians' 1B Matt Hague (photo).   He was named to the International League's All-Star Team in the morning, then led his team to a victory over the Chiefs at Alliance Bank Park in Syracuse, NY in the evening.  

This won't be Hague's first All-Star Game -- he participated in the 2010 Eastern League All-Star Game.  He is the Indians' only player on this year's IL All-Star Team, though Tribe manager Dean Treanor will be serving the IL as a bench coach.  The Louisville Bats have 3 position players in the IL's starting line-up, plus one reserve player.  The Durham Bulls have 2 position players among the starters, plus one reserve player.  Lehigh Valley and Columbus both have 2 pitchers named to the team.  Former Indy Indian C Erik Kratz, now with Lehigh Valley, has been named to the IL All-Star team for the third season in a row.  In his first AAA All-Star Game, Kratz was named the most valuable player, and in last season's game, he was notified of his major league call-up in the middle of the game and his astonished response was on national television.  There will be a familiar face on the Pacific Coast League's All-Star Team -- LHP Dana Eveland, who pitched for the Indians and the Pirates will be represeting the Albuquerque Isotopes (Dodgers).  

Hague continued his day with a 3-for-3 night at the plate, including a double, and he was responsible for driving in 2 of the Indians' 3 runs.  C Kris Watts also had a fine night, with a pair of doubles.  Pitchers Garrett Olson and Steven Jackson combined for a 2-hit shutout.  

Indianapolis Indians  7,  Syracuse Chiefs  3
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Brian Friday (photo) was not even in the Indians' starting line-up today, but he ended up being the big basher for the night as the Indians defeated the Chiefs at Alliance Bank Park in Syracuse, NY.  The Indians came from behind, scoring in three of the last four innings, and posting 14 hits.  CF Gorkys Hernandez went 4-for-4 with a double and three singles, and RF Miles Durham had a triple and two singles, plus 3 RBI.  

Sean Gallagher won his 3rd game of the season (3-8 record), going 5 innings and allowing 2 runs (one earned).  He gave up a double in each of the first three innings.  Chiefs' 2B Steve Lombardozzi doubled and was left stranded in the 1st, and C Jhonatan Solano doubled in the 2nd, and was left on base, along with LF Gregor Blanco, who was hit by a pitch.  The double in the 3rd inning brought Gallagher some trouble, though.  Rehabbing major leaguer Rick Ankiel doubled into right field, then was sacrifice bunted to third base by Lombardozzi.  SS Matt Antonelli drove in Ankiel with a sacrifice fly.  Ankiel also reached second base in the 5th due to a fielding error when RF Miles Durham dropped his fly ball.  Lombardozzi again put down a sacrifice bunt, moving Ankiel to third.  This time Antonelli brought Ankiel home with an RBI single lined into center field.  

The Indians had one batter reach base in each of the first five innings.  SS Jordy Mercer was hit by a pitch in the top of the 1st.  Hernandez hit his lined his first single into left field to lead off the top of the 3rd, and 1B Matt Hague doubled into right field in the 3rd.  Hernandez's second single came in the 5th inning.  None of them were able to come around to score.  And to possibly make it worse :  Mercer was able to return to the field after being hit by the pitch (?hand or arm?), but he was not going to be able to swing the bat, so Friday came in to pinch-hit for Mercer in the 3rd, then remained in the game at shortstop.  

Syracuse Chiefs  8,  Indianapolis Indians  5
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The Indians opened a 4-game series against the Syracuse Chiefs tonight with a disappointing loss at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, NY.  Starter Brian Burres suffered the loss, unable to get out of the 4th inning.  2B Pedro Ciriaco (photo), in his first game back with the Indians after being sent down from Pittsburgh, extended his (interrupted) hitting streak to 8 games with 3 hits.  

The Pirates' roster shuffling continued today.  OF Jose Tabata was officially placed onto the Disabled List with the injury to his quad.  That move allowed them to bring INF Josh Harrison back to the big league team immediately, instead of having to wait for 10 days after they'd sent him down.  And, as anticipated, OF Alex Presley was officially placed onto the Pirates' active roster.  

In order to fill in spots on the Indians' roster, OF Anthony Norman and SS Jordy Mercer were promoted from AA Altoona to Indianapolis today.  Mercer had been hitting .268 for the Curve, with 17 doubles, 13 homers, and 48 RBI.  Norman had appeared in 15 games for the Curve, hitting .342 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 RBI.  Also, INF Josh Rodriguez was sent to Altoona.  Just acquired from the Cleveland Indians last week, Rodriguez was 5-for-11 at the plate with 6 RBI for the Tribe in 4 games.  

 
LF John Bowker got the Indians going tonight with his third home run in three days.  Newcomer RF Anthony Norman began the game with a ground-rule double down the left field line.  2B Pedro Ciriaco dropped down a bunt and beat it out for a single, moving Norman to third.  That brought up Bowker, who blasted a 3-run homer over the right field wall.  1B Matt Hague followed the homer with a double, and 3B Andy Marte walked, but the were left on base.  The Indians had a quick 3-0 lead.  

Starter Brian Burres (photo) retired the Chiefs in order in the first inning, but he struggled after that.  The bottom of the 2nd began with a single by 1B Chris Marrero, then a strikeout, then two more singles by LF Jeff Frazier and former Indiana University player SS Seth Bynum.  With the bases loaded and one out, CF Corey Brown tapped a grounder back to the mound, where Burres fired back to C Kris Watts, forcing out Marrero at the plate.  That delayed but didn't prevent the inevitable -- Syracuse pitcher Craig Stammen singled to drive in Frazier from third, cutting the Indians' lead to 3-1.  

The Chiefs kept on going in the 3rd.  With two outs, Marrero walked, then C Jesus Flores doubled, bringing Marrero all the way around from first base to score.  Frazier also walked, and both Flores and Frazier scored when Bynum lifted a long fly ball to right-center, which bounced off Norman's glove for a double.  That gave the Chiefs a 4-3 lead.  The 4th inning began with another pair of singles, including a second single by the pitcher Stammen, and one by 2B Steve Lombardozzi.  A wild pitch from Burres put both runners into scoring position.  Burres walked 3B Mark Antonelli, and ball four was another wild pitch, allowing Stammen to score from third.  After a strikeout, Burres was relieved by Chris Leroux.  Leroux gave up a single to Marrero, driving in Lombardozzi, then got out of the inning with a fly out and a ground out.  That gave the Chiefs a 6-3 lead.  Burres threw 90 pitches (59 strikes) in his 3.1 innings, allowing those 6 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts.  

Pawtucket Red Sox  4,  Indianapolis Indians 1
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The Indianapolis Indians came away with a series split against Pawtucket, giving them a 5-3 win of the season series with the Red Sox.  The Indians out-hit the PawSox 9-4 at Victory Field tonight, but Pawtucket made their runs count and left town with the win.

Equally as big for the Tribe: the flurry of roster moves that affected the Indians today.  The Pirates optioned SS Pedro Ciriaco to the Indians, in order to make room for the move that has been eagerly anticipated by Tribe fans -- OF Alex Presley (photo) was promoted to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates had a scheduled day off today, but Presley will join the team tomorrow in Toronto.  He may make appearances as a pinch-hitter in the intraleague games, or he might also play some outfield since Jose Tabata has been injured.

Tribe C Wyatt Toregas, who left yesterday's game due to injury, was placed on the Indians' Disabled List today, yet another catcher in the Pirates' organization to be sidelined.  The Pirates do not feel that catchers Tony Sanchez and Travis Scott are ready for moving up to AAA.  They sought help from outside the organizaton :  former Indy Indian and Altoona Curve catcher Miguel Perez is once again an Indian.  Perez played in the Pirates' organization during the 2008 and 2009 season.  He hit .281 for the Curve in 57 games in 2008, with 2 homers and 22 RBI, and in 30 games for the Curve in 2009, Perez hit .262 with another 2 homers and 12 RBI.  Perez got into just 7 games for the Indians in 2009, and hit .182.

And, last but not least, pitcher Mike Crotta finished his rehab assignment, and was reinstated of the Pirates' Disabled List.  He was immediately optioned to Indianapolis.  In order to make space on the roster, pitcher Brad Lincoln was moved to the Altoona roster.  This was a paper move only.  Lincoln is in a holding pattern, expected to be called up to pitch for the Pirates when they have a double header on Saturday.  And, Lincoln was right here tonight, coaching at first base (photo).  


OK, on to the game:

Justin Wilson made his 15th start for the Tribe, in search of his 10th win of the season.  He was foiled, though by two tough innings.  After retiring the first four PawSox he faced, Wilson walked 1B Hector Luna in the 2nd.  The next batter, 2B Nate Spears, with his own private cheering section from Anderson, Indiana in the stands, smashed a long fly ball over the right field wall for a 2-run homer.  

Wilson struck out the next two batters to finish the inning, then retired the side in order again in the 3rd.  The 4th inning began with Wilson hitting DH Lars Anderson with a pitch.  Luna grounded to short, where SS Brian Friday made the scoop and the toss to 2B Josh Harrison.  But with Anderson barrelling down on him and an off-balance toss, Harrison made the out at second, but dropped the ball as he went to transfer, and they could not get the double play they'd hoped for.  Spears flied out to center field, but 3B Brent Dlugach hit a single to behind second base, moving Luna to third.  Wilson walked SS Jose Iglesias to load the bases with two outs.  LF Matt Sheely took advantage of the loaded bases and lined a single into left field, scoring both Luna and Dlugach, to give the PawSox 4 runs.

The Pirates have optioned SS Pedro Ciriaco to AAA Indianapolis.  This opens a roster spot for OF Alex Presley, who will be officially called up on Tuesday (the Pirates have a day off on Monday).  UPDATE:  Presley has officially been called up, and will join the Pirates in Toronto.

Also promoted:  pitcher Rinku Singh has been promoted from the GCL Pirates to State College.   Singh has pitched a total of 15 innings so far this season.  Eleven of those came on 3 appaearances with the DSL team.  He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, with 7 strikeouts in the Dominican.  In one appearance last week with the GCL Pirates, Singh pitched 4 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit, while striking out 5 batters.  Singh pitched in one game for the Spikes at the end of the 2010 season.  He went 2 innings in that game, and gave up only one hit, with one strikeout.  


Monday's game action:

GCL Pirates  1,  GCL Phillies  0.... for 1.5 innings
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3B Pedro Alvarez made his first official rehab start this afternoon.  It didn't last long, though that had nothing to do with him: the game was suspended due to rain after just 1.5 innings.  Alvarez was the Pirates' lead-off batter.  He got one trip to the plate, in which he grounded out to second base.  CF Willy Garcia was the only batter on either team to reach base, when he blasted a solo homer in the top of the 2nd.  Pirates' starter Luis Heredia pitched to just 3 batters in the bottom of the first -- two strikeouts and a pop out to C Joey Schoenfeld.  

Indianapolis Indians  5,  Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs  3 
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A sudden storm drove the Indians and the Iron Pigs from the field with one out and two runners on base in the bottom of the 9th at Coca Cola Park in Allentown, PA tonight.  The tarp was pulled as the rain came down harder and harder, and after the game was in a delay, the storm continued to increase in intensity.

RF Alex Presley (photo) continued his hitting dominance with 4 hits in the game, and 1B Matt Hague gave the Indians a big boost with two home runs.  The first homer, a high fly over the left field wall, got the game started in the top of the 1st.  With one out in the top of the 3rd, Presley and SS Brian Friday hit back-to-back infield singles right back to Iron Pigs' starting pitcher Ryan Feierabend.  Hague followed with his second homer, a 3-run shot into the bullpen behind left field, to give the Indians a 4-0 lead.  

Tribe starter Brian Burres pitched into the 6th inning.  He gave up a 2-out single to CF John Mayberry in the 1st, a 2-out walk to 1B Cody Overbeck in the 2nd, and a 2-out double to 2B Josh Barfield in the 3rd, but each time kept the Iron Pigs scoreless.  Barfield's double hit the top of the left field wall and bounced in, but away from Tribe LF Miles Durham.  The Pigs cut the Indians lead in half in the 4th.  Former Indian LF Brandon Moss led off with a single, then after two outs, Overbeck lifted a rising line drive over the left field wall, well over Durham's desperate leap.  Indians ahead, 4-2.  

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.  

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.

Chase d'Arnaud (19) is congratulated after his 2-run homer.











Indianapolis Indians  6,  Buffalo Bisons  1
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Brad Lincoln (photo) won his fourth game in a row with his best performance of the season, pitching 7 scoreless innings to lead the Indians over the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field this afternoon.  This was Lincoln's 8th start overall for the Indians, and the only scoreless start so far.  He went 7 innings for the second time in a row, and struck out 7 batters for the third time this season.  Lincoln allowed only 4 hits, which was the fewest he's allowed since his first start -- and that start lasted only 4.2 innings.  

Lincoln scattered those 4 hits, plus one walk, so that the Bison had only one inning in which two runners reached base.  He retired the first 7 Bison in order, including 3 strikeouts in the first two innings.  Former Indy Indian (2008) C Raul Chavez had the first hit for Buffalo, with a grounder up the middle in the 3rd inning.  The next batter, Buffalo starter Casey Fossum tried to drop down a sacrifice bunt, but the bunt went up instead of down, and 3B Josh Harrison was able to charge in and catch the tiny pop.  Harrison then fired over to first base, where a temporarily confused Chavez had frozen in his tracks several feet away from the bag.  Chavez was easily doubled off the bag for the inning- ending double play.

Lincoln allowed a single to lead-off batter LF Jesus Feliciano in the 4th, then struck out the next two batters and ended the inning with a ground out.  He worked around an infield hits by 3B Michael Fisher in the 5th and by 1B Valentino Pascucci in the 7th.  The 6th was the only inning that Lincoln allowed two Bison hitters to reach base.  With one out, he walked Feliciano.  SS Luis Hernandez grounded to 2B Chase d'Arnaud for what could have been a double play.  D'Arnaud's flip to SS Pedro Ciriaco erased Feliciano at second, but Feliciano's slide made Ciriaco jump out of the way to avoid being taken down, and Ciriaco could not make the throw to first.  That didn't seem to bother Lincoln, though, as he got CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis to tap back to the mound and tagged Nieuwenhuis out himself to end the inning.  

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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.  

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.