Tag: Pedro Ciriaco

Chase d'Arnaud makes the play at shortstop









Indianapolis Indians  9,  Columbus Clippers  5
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It took 8 games, but the Indians finally got their first win of the season against the Columbus Clippers tonight at Victory Field.  Brad Lincoln made a solid start, going 7 innings to earn his 3rd win.  It was the second game in a row that the Tribe scored 9 runs, but also the second in a row when they allowed the opposition to rally in the late innings.  The Indians posted 16 hits (two more than last night), with 1B Matt Hague and SS Chase d'Arnaud each contributing 3 hits and 3 RBI.  Each member of the starting line up had at least one hit.

Lincoln (photo) allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts in his 7 innings.  He had only one inning in which he retired the Clippers in order, but left 8 runners on base.  The righty got through the first inning with only one runner reaching base, when he hit Columbus' DH Lonnie Chisenhall with a pitch.  The two runs scored in the 2nd inning.  RF Travis Buck led off the inning with a single into right center field.  A fly out and a pop out followed, and it looked like Lincoln might get out of the inning unscathed.  Then former Indy Indian C Luke Carlin ran the count full and took a walk.  That brought up 3B Luis Valbuena, who ripped a grounder into right field so hard that it travelled all the way to the right field wall.  He drove in both Buck and Carlin, and by the time the ball got to the infield, Valbuena was on second base.  A spectacular catch by CF Alex Presley on a long fly ball off the bat of CF Ezequiel Carrera ended the inning.  

Lincoln went on to give up a single to Chisenhall in the 3rd inning, and also struck out 2 in the 3rd.  1B Chad Huffman singled and stole second base in the 5th.  That inning ended with a grounder toward second base.  2B Pedro Ciriaco charged in, made the scoop on the run, then threw across his body and a little behind him to first base, where Matt Hague had to pick the ball out of the dirt, but did it in time for the out.  Chisenhall doubled in the 7th inning, but was again left stranded.

After scoring in the 2nd inning, the biggest threat the Clippers made against Lincoln came in the 4th.  With one out, LF Jerad Head slipped a grounder past the diving d'Arnaud and into left field.  Carlin again worked a full count and took a walk.  Valbuena flied out to short left field for the second out.  Carrera grounded to third for what should have been the final out, but the ball skipped off 3B Josh Harrison's glove and over his shoulder.  D'Arnaud was in the perfect position to back up Harrison, and made the catch behind him, but by then Carrera had reached first base safely, loading the bases.  D'Arnaud's back-up kept a run from scoring, though, and Lincoln got another grounder to Harrison, this one fielded cleanly, to end the inning and leave the bases full.  It took Lincoln 97 pitches (62 strikes) to get through his 7 innings.

Indianapolis Indians  9,  Durham Bulls  6
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Starter Justin Wilson (photo) pitched 7 innings of one-hit, shutout ball, to earn his third win of the season for the Indians at Durham Bulls' Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.  Wilson did not allow a hit until the 7th inning, when former Indy Indian 2B JJ Furmaniak singled on a line drive off the glove of Tribe 2B Pedro Ciriaco.  While Wilson held the Bulls to just one hit, he put 5 Bulls on base with walks, and had to work around a fielding error by Ciriaco.

Wilson walked LF Justin Ruggiano in the 1st inning, but erased him with a double play.  He walked Furmaniak in the 2nd inning and RF Desmond Jennings in the 3rd, but left both on base.  The southpaw did retire the side in order in the 4th and 6th innings.  He walked both 1B Russ Canzler and C Robinson Chirinos in the 5th, but an unsual play helped him out -- SS Ray Olmedo grounded to short, where SS Chase d'Arnaud made the pickup and flipped the ball to 2B Ciriaco covering the bag.  But the ball hit Ciriaco's glove and bounced off, going all the way back to d'Arnaud, who still had time to step on the bag and force out Chirinos for the second out of the inning.  That left runners on the corners, but Wilson got a strikeout to end the inning.

After the game, Wilson admitted that he felt "a little shaky" in the first inning, but then settled in and "felt comfortable later as I was able to get in the strike zone more and attack guys.... My plan for the whole night was to get in the strike zone early and make them swing at my pitch, and get ground balls."  Wilson credited his catcher Dusty Brown for calling a great game, and also had props for his defense behind him.  1B Matt Hague made an unassisted double play in the 1st inning on a line drive by CF Brandon Guyer, doubling Ruggiano off the bag.  In the 3rd, Ruggiano chopped a ball down the first base line and bounced it off the edge of the first base bag.  Luckily for Wilson and the Indians, the ball ricocheted into the infield, back down along the first base line, where Hague could pick it up and make the easy tag out.  D'Arnaud made a leaping stab on a line drive by Furmaniak in the 5th inning, saving a hit.  

Durham Bulls  1,  Indianapolis Indians   0
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Brian Burres (photo) gave up just one run and scattered 4 hits in a morning-into-afternoon game at Durham Bulls' Athletic Park today -- but he suffered his 5th loss of the season.  Burress had the Bulls under control for the entire game, but there was just one problem.  That problem was the only hit that counted -- a solo home run by Bulls' RF Justin Ruggiano in the bottom of the 1st.  Ruggiano, who was also the Bulls' game hero last night, scored the only run of the game with his homer.

Burres matched his season-high 7 innings in this start.  He struck out 5 batters and walked only one.  After the game, Burres said that he felt that his mistake was not the fast ball that Ruggiano took over the wall, but the two pitches before that, both outside the strike zone, which put Burres behind in the count.  Burres gave up a single to 3B Russ Canzler in the 2nd, but erased him when C Jose Laboton bounced into a 6-4-3 double play (SS Pedro Ciriaco to 2B Chase d'Arnaud to 1B John Bowker).   

The lefty Burres retired the Bulls in order in the 3rd and 4th innings, then gave up back-to-back singles to 1B Leslie Anderson and C Jose Lobaton in the 5th.  Another double play, off the bat of former Indy Indian SS JJ Furmaniak got Burres and the Indians out of that jam.  Another 1-2-3 inning took care of the Bulls in the 6th, then Burres walked LF Brandon Guyer to begin the 7th, but got three quick outs to end his afternoon.

Durham Bulls  2,  Indianapolis Indians  1
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The Indians and the Bulls took it into extra innings at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, but it was the Bulls who came out on top.  After taking advantage of an Indians' error, Bulls' LF Justin Ruggiano lined a bases-loaded single for the walk-off win.  

Rudy Owens (photo) made the start for the Indians, one day later than he would have been regularly scheduled, because he was serving out the end of his suspension from last week.  Owens gave up only a single over the first two innings, then found himself needing to work out of big jams in the 3rd and 4th.  With one out in the 3rd, Bulls' SS Ray Olmedo reached base when his Indians' counterpart, SS Pedro Ciriaco, dropped his grounder for an error.  CF Desmond Jennings walked, and Ruggiano beat out an infield hit on a swinging bunt down the third base line.  3B Josh Harrison was not expecting such a short hit, and by the time he charged in to get it, Ruggiano was already at first base.  RF Brandon Guyer stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, and bounced to third, where Harrison made the scoop and instead of trying for an around-the-horn double play, he fired to the plate, and C Dusty Brown made the force out on Olmedo.  Owens struck out 3B Felipe Lopez to end the inning without a run scoring.  

Owens had to work out of a jam again in the 4th.  He walked DH ChrisCarter, then C Robinson Chirinos smacked a grounder to third base, which hit Harrison on the leg and ricocheted all the way behind second base and into short right field.  By the time 2B Brian Friday could track it down, Carter had rounded second and alertly advanced to third base.  1B Leslie Anderson followed with a line drive into right field, scoring Carter from third base with the first run of the game.  There were still two runners on base and no outs.  2B Omar Luna dropped down a bunt that got too close to the mound -- Owens was able to snatch it up and throw to third base for the force out of the lead runner Chirinos.  A single into center field by Olmedo loaded the bases again, but Owens held tight.  He got a pop out (infield fly rule) and a fly out to end the inning without any more runs scoring.  Bulls 1, Indians 0.  

Owens retired the next 6 Bulls in order to finish his evening's work.  In 6 innings, Owens threw 90 pitches (55 strikes), and allowed that one run on 5 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts.  

Indianapolis Indians  7,  Durham Bulls  5
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Home runs by RF John Bowker and DH Andrew Lambo and a triple by LF Corey Wimberly gave the Indians the offense they needed to power past the Bulls tonight.  The game was played at the old Durham Athletic Park, which is the original stadium in Durham -- the one where the old A-level team played, and where the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed.  Last season, the Bulls played one game at the old stadium, which sits about 5 blocks from their "new" stadium, Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  Everyone must have had fun, because they decided to do it again this year, and this time the Indians were the visitors who got to participate.  It was a bit awkward for the players -- they had to change clothes and do batting practice at the new stadium, then take a bus to the old stadium for the game.  After the game, they rode back to the new facility to shower up and change clothes again.  Lambo said that the players had fun at the old park, even though the dugout was a little cramped.  The teams wore "retro" uniforms for the game.

Jose Ascanio (photo) made a one-inning start for the Indians, throwing 31 pitches (20 strikes) and giving up 2 runs.  Ascanio began the inning by allowing a single to SS Ray Olmedo.  CF Justin Ruggiano reached base on a fielding error by 3B Josh Harrison.  A wild pitch by Ascanio let both runners move up a base, then a walk to LF Brandon Guyer loaded the bases with no outs.  Ascanio got a strikeout, but then RF Chris Carter lined a double into right field, bringing in both Olmedo and Ruggiano to score.  Another strikeout and a ground out got Ascanio out of the inning, though with the Indians trailing 2-0.   

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.  

Norfolk Tides  8,  Indianapolis Indians  2
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Yesterday the Indians blasted 3 home runs in their win over the Tides.  Today the Tides returned the favor, with 3 home runs off the Indians' pitchers, accounted for all but one of their 8 runs, to tie the series at 1 game each at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.  

The Indians put runners on base in both the 1st and 2nd innings.  2B Chase d'Arnaud opened the game with a line drive single into left field, but he was erased when SS Pedro Ciriaco bounced into a double play.  1B Matt Hague led off the 2nd inning with another liner into left field.  He advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and moved to third on C Jason Jaramillo's ground out, but a pair of strikeouts left Hague on third.  

3B Brian Friday (photo) began the Indians' third inning in a row with a lead-off single, this time lining into center field.  CF Gorkys Hernandez dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Friday to second base.  Next up was d'Arnaud, who lifted a long fly ball to center field.  The Tides' CF Matt Angle had trouble finding the ball at first, losing it in the hazy lights.  D'Arnaud, thinking that Angle was not going to find the ball, put his head down, rounded first, and headed for second. Friday held up part way to third, in case the ball was caught.  Angle caught sight of the ball at the last second, raced in and made a desperate lunging catch.  As Friday was scrambling back to second base with a head-first dive, d'Arnaud also was diving head-first into second base.  D'Arnaud crashed into Friday's upper body, knocking him completely off the bag with a roll.  Luckily, the throw back from center field was not right to the second base bag -- and luckily, d'Arnaud did not slide in spikes-first.  Friday quickly rolled back to touch the second base bag, and was still safe at second.  About then, d'Arnaud figured out that his fly ball had been caught and he was out, and he trotted off the field.  Moments later, Friday raced around to score on Ciriaco's RBI single up the third base line.  Ciriaco stole second base (his 7th steal of the season), then LF Alex Presley reached base when his grounder slipped under the glove of Tides' 1B Brandon Snyder.  The ball shot into right field, and though C John Hester plunked himself down in front of the plate to block Ciriaco, the throw in from RF Blake Davis came in up the third base line.  Hester had to go chase after the ball, letting Ciriaco score.  The ball ended up in the dugout, for an error on Davis, and Presley was awarded third base on that error.  He was left on third, though, when Hague struck out to end the rally.  

Indianapolis Indians  9,  Norfolk Tides   1
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The Indians blasted 3 home runs and 7 of their 12 hits were for extra-bases, as they blew the Tides out of the water at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.  Starter Brian Burres (photo) on his first game of the season, allowing one run on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 5 strikeouts, in 6.2 innings.  LF Alex Presley raised his average to .366 by going 3-for-5, and both 2B Chase d'Arnaud and 1B Matt Hague contributed 3 RBI each.  

The Tribe got the run-scoring started in the top of the 1st.  With two outs, LF Alex Presley lined a double into right field.  1B Matt Hague followed that with a 2-run homer over the left field wall, for a 2-0 lead.  

The fun continued in the 2nd inning, when C Dusty Brown led off with a walk.  After two strikeouts, a wild pitch by Norfolk starter and former Indy Indian Chris Jakubauskas moved Brown to second base.  CF Gorkys Hernandez took a walk, then d'Arnaud blasted a 3-run homer, also to left field, and the Indians were up 5-0.  

The Tribe made it 6-0 in the 3rd, on a single and a stolen base by Presley, a fly out by Hague to move him to third, and an RBI ground out by DH Jason Jaramillo.  



Brian Burres was in control for 6+ innings.  He gave up two singles in the bottom of the 1st, but a double play ended that inning without a run scoring.  Burres worked around a double in the 2nd and a walk in the 3rd.  He also gave up a single in both the 4th and the 6th, but still did not let a run score.  The only hit that Burres gave up which made a difference was a solo home run to another former Indian, SS Nick Green, in the 7th inning.

3B Brian Friday and 2B Chase d'Arnaud













Durham Bulls  12,  Indianapolis Indians  3
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For the second night in a row, the Indianapolis Indians struggled both at the plate and in the field, as they fell to the Durham Bulls in the first game of a 4-game series at Victory Field.  The Bulls posted 19 hits for 12 runs, in a game that seemed similar to last night's game against the Norfolk Tides.  They scored in all but three innings (same as the Tides last night), and had runners on base in every inning (as did the Tides).  In addition, the Bulls put the first runner on base in each of the first five innings, and in seven of nine innings.  

Sean Gallagher (photo) made the start tonight, and like yesterday, he had two batters reach base against him in the top of the 1st inning.  Gallagher hit the first batter, CF Desmond Jennings, with a pitch.  Jennings stole second base on the first pitch to LF Justin Ruggiano.  Then Ruggiano lined into left field, and Jennings came around to score.  An alert play by Tribe LF Alex Presley had the ball back in to the infield and to second base quickly, and Ruggiano was tagged out at second base by 2B Chase d'Arnaud.  

3B Russ Canzler began the 2nd inning with a looping single into right field, but after a pop up, Canzler was erased in a strike-out-throw-out double play.  Former Indy Indian 2B JJ Furmaniak led off the 3rd inning with a double into the right-center field alley, and after a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly by Jennings brought Furmaniak in to score, giving the Bulls a 2-0 lead.  


The Bulls increased their lead to 4-0 in the 4th.  DH Chris Carter led off with a solo home run, which saw RF Andrew Lambo trying to climb up the padded right field wall (it never works) in a desperate attempt to grow 12 feet taller.  Gallagher walked Canzler after the homer, and two outs later, he hit Furmaniak with a pitch.  SS Ray Olmedo gr ounded sharply to first, and the ball dinged off 1B Andy Marte's glove for a single.  Canzler was off and running with the pitch, and he came around to score, even though d'Arnaud got to the ball quickly.  A ground out to third and an excellent scoop by 3B Brian Friday ended the inning.  

Pedro Ciriaco gets back to first base safely














Norfolk Tides  11,  Indianapolis Indians  3
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The Norfolk Tides swamped the Indians at Victory Field tonight, ending this 4-game series with a 2-2 tie.  Starter Brian Burres (photo) suffered his 4th loss of the season (no wins) and lasted just 4 innings, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts.

The Tides had base runners on in every inning, and they scored in 6 of the 9 innings.  Burres began the game with a strikeout, but things went downhill from there.  The second batter, 2B Ryan Adams lined a single into right field, and LF Nolan Reimold followed with a long home run over the left field wall, all the way to the sidewalk behind the grass berm.  Burres got a fly out and a strikeout to end the inning.  In the 2nd, the Tides made it 3-0 with SS Brendan Harris' solo home run, which landed in almost the same place as Reimold's.  

The Indians had a chance to return fire in the bottom of the 1st inning.  RF Corey Wimberly and SS Chase d'Arnaud led off with back-to-back line drive singles, one to right field and one to left.  It would have been a great opportunity to answer the Tides, but the next three batters could not move the runners along -- a fly out, a pop out, and a fly out, leaving Wimberly and d'Arnaud standing there.  

Brian Friday makes the play at third base.



Norfolk Tides  6,  Indianapolis Indians  0
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Three Norfolk pitchers combined to hold the Indians to just 3 hits in a shut-out game tonight at Victory Field.  Only the outfielders had hits --  LF Alex Presley and CF Gorkys Hernandez both singled and RF Andrew Lambo doubled.  Starter Rudy Owens was not able to contain the Tides' batters, and he suffered his second loss of the season.

The Tides' batters got to Owens (photo) in the top of the 1st.  CF Tyler Henson and 2B Ryan Adams led off with back-to-back singles into left field.  With runners on the corners, Owens struck out the next two batters, former Indy Indian SS Nick Green and 1B Brandon Snyder.  It looked like Owens might get out of the jam, but LF Nolan Reimold worked the count full, fouled off a couple more pitches, then ripped a double into left-center field.  LF Presley and CF Hernandez both raced toward the ball, and at the last possible second, Presley made a desperate dive -- but could not come up with the ball.  That drove in both base runners, to give the Tides a 2-0 lead.  

Owens pitched a scoreless 2nd inning, then gave up a solo home run to Snyder in the 3rd inning, increasing the Tides' lead to 3-0.  He retired the side in order in the 4th.  In the 5th, RF Blake Davis grounded sharply through the hole and into left field, but as he rounded first and headed for second, Davis was not counting on Presley in left field.  Presley came up throwing, and his throw to 2B Pedro Ciriaco was on-target and well ahead of Davis, who was out at second.  Adams also reached base when he grounded to first.  1B Matt Hague made a great diving stop, but when Owens arrived to cover the bag, he dropped Hague's toss for an error.  Adams was left on first when a fly out ended the inning.