Tag: Vinnie Chulk

Louisville Bats �6, �Indianapolis Indians �1 (box)

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Another hot and humid night, and another loss for the Indians at the hands of the Bats at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky tonight. �Starter Hayden Penn (photo) lost his second start in a row, after four consecutive wins, as he allowed all 6 of the Bats' runs on 12 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts. �The Indians were held to just 2 hits, and barely squeaked out one run.

The Indians just couldn't get much going for the first 7 innings, and never had a runner reach second base safely. �RF Brandon Moss smacked a fly ball into left field in the 2nd inning, which bounced into the corner, but the carom went right to Bats' LF Todd Frazier. �Moss rounded first and headed for second, but Frazier's throw back to second base was right on target, and Moss was tagged out. �2B�Jim Negrych was walked on four pitches with two outs in the 4th, but he was picked off base. �Two runners reached base in the 6th -- but not at the same time. �C Erik Kratz was hit by a pitch but was immediately erased when SS Doug Bernier bounced into a double play. �Pinch-hitter Alex Presley walked after the double play, but he was left stranded on base. �1B Jeff Clement had two close calls -- he took a long fly ball to the warning track in right field in the 5th. �With one out in the 9th, he was robbed of a hit when CF Michael Griffin made a diving catch in right-center field.

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Finally in the 8th inning, the Indians found some offense. � Reds' prospect Aroldis Chapman took the mound for the Bats, and he began by striking out Brandon Moss. �He got a full count on CF Jonathan Van Every, and then put him on first base with a walk. �Chapman struck out Erik Kratz, and the inning looked like it was going to be just like the earlier ones. �Things changed when Chapman threw a wild pitch, and Van Every advanced to second base. �Doug Bernier (photo) singled up the middle, and Van Every raced around third and scored the Indians' only run of the game. �With pinch-hitter Brian Myrow at the plate,�Bernier moved to second base on defensive indifference. �Myrow was hit by a pitch on ball four, and LF Kevin Melillo also walked. �That was three walks in the inning for Chapman, and he was relieved by Daniel Ray Herrera. �With the bases loaded, Herrera got Aki Iwamura to fly out to left field, ending the inning and leaving everyone stranded.

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Louisville Bats �6, �Indianapolis Indians �0 � --- � Game 1 (box)

It was all Louisville in Game 1 as the Bats battered starter Dana Eveland (photo above) in his Indians debut. �Eveland, who had not pitched since before being designated for assignment about two weeks ago, did not make it out of the third inning, and was responsible for 5 of the 6 Bats' runs, on 6 hits and a walk.

The Bats scored one run in the top of the 1st, on a single up the middle by SS Zack Cozart, a grounder by 1B Yonder Alonso to move Cozart to second, and an RBI double down the right field line by LF Todd Frazier. �Eveland began the second inning by giving up a single to RF Wladimir Balantien, then a 2-run homer by 2B Chris Valaika, to boost the Bats' lead to 3-0. � The 3rd inning opened with another home run, by Alonso, a solo blast to straight-out center field, bouncing off the top of the wall and into the ground cover in front of the batter's eye trees. �A double to the wall in the right-center field alley by Frazier followed the home run, then a groundout to second base, moving Frazier to third base.

That was all that manager Frank Kremblas wanted to see from Eveland. �He had thrown 53 pitches (34 strikes) in his 2.1 innings. �Brian Bass, who had pitched a 1-2-3 inning last night, came on in relief of Eveland. �The first batter Bass faced, Balentien, took a long fly ball to center field -- not deep enough for another home run, but plenty deep enough for Frazier to tag up and score from third base. �That run was also charged to Eveland. �Bass hit C Ryan Hanigan with a pitch and walked Valaika (unintentionally intentional?), then struck out Bats' starter Chad Reineke to end the inning.

The Bats kept going against Bass in the 4th. �With one out, Bass walked Cozart, who stole second base. �Alonso doubled into center field, bringing in Cozart from second base.

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Erik Kratz, pitching coach Dean Treanor, and Jeremy Powell confer on the mound

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Columbus Clippers �6, �Indianapolis Indians �1 (box)

The Clippers pounded out 12 hits, with each member of their line-up reaching base at least once, while their pitching staff held the Indians' batters to 3 hits at Victory Field tonight.

Starter Jeremy Powell, back in the Indians' starting rotation again, struck out the first batter he faced, CF Michael Brantley. �The next three batters reached base: �a single slipped past SS Doug Bernier by Clippers' 2B Josh Rodriguez, a walk to DH Luis Valbuena, and a single through the hole into left field by 3B Jared Goedert. � Goedert's hit drove in Rodriguez from second base for the Clippers' first run. �Powell got a second out when LF Jordan Brown hit a high pop fly, caught by Tribe 3B Akinori Iwamura on the infield fly rule (photo). �Then 1B Wes Hodges drove a long fly ball to center field. �CF Alex Presley, who had been playing a little shallow, turned and raced for the wall, and tried for the catch over his shoulder. �He got his glove on the ball at the warning track, but the ball popped into and out of his glove. �Instead of out #3, Hodges had a double, and had driving in two more runs. �(photos below)

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Presley at the wall -- in the second photo, the ball is partly behind Presley's left hand.

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Doug Bernier, Argenis Diaz, and Jim Negrych

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Indianapolis Indians �6, �Toledo Mud Hens �5 (box)

LF Kevin Melillo (photo) launched a pitch into the night in the bottom of the 9th at Victory Field, and when it landed in the grass berm in front of the right field scoreboard, the Indians had a walk-off win over the Toledo Mud Hens. �They also had a sweep of the 4-game series against Toledo, and combined with the Columbus Clippers' loss to the Gwinnett Braves tonight, that puts the Indians 2 games behind the first-place Clippers in the International League Western Division, and drops Toledo to 3 games behind the Indians.

Compared to last night, when the Indians cranked out 19 hits, tonight's game began rather quietly. �Only one Tribe batter reached base in the first three innings, and that was 1B Steve Pearce, who led off the 2nd inning with a line drive just over the head of Toledo SS Brent Dlugach. �Pearce stole second base, but he was left there when a flu out and two strikeouts ended the inning.

Indians' starter Brian Burres also held the Mud Hens scoreless in the early innings. �He worked his way out of a jam in the top of the 1st. �Lead-off batter 2B Will Rhymes singled up the middle, and Brent Dlugach walked. �LF Jeff Frazier made the first out, on a short fly ball to center, with CF Alex Presley making a very nice running catch. �Burres and the Indians caught a break when Rhymes made a base-running mistake: �with Burres looking right at him, Rhymes led off second base, then went a little too far, and was caught in the middle of nowhere when Burres came off the mound. �Rhymes was easily thrown out at third base, with 3B Doug Bernier putting down the tag (photo below).

Brent Dlugach advanced to second base while Burres and Bernier were taking care of Rhymes. � Another walk, to 1B Ryan Strieby, put two runners on base with two outs. �Burress got out of the inning by striking out 3B Jeff Larish.

Bernier allowed just one hit over the next three innings. �He retired the side in order in both the 2nd and 3rd innings. �Jeff Frazier led off the 4th with a double into left-center field, but he was still standing there on second base when Burres struck out Strieby, Larish, and RF Wilkin Ramirez and was out of the inning.

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The bullpen didn't get the memo that said it's 91 degrees out.

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

The Pirates' first round pick from the 2007 draft, LHP Danny Moskos, made his AAA debut tonight in the Inidans' win over Toledo at Victory Field. �The Indians were out-hit by the Mud Hens, 12-9, but the Indians made good use of the hits they got, including home runs by RF Brandon Moss and 2B Jim Negrych, supporting starter Jeremy Powell in his 4th win of the season.

Powell (photo) was making the spot start because Daniel McCutchen had his scheduled start moved to Oakland, with the Pirates. �This was Powell's first start in more than 3 weeks. �He had made 5 relief appearances since then, but pitched only a third of an inning in the two relief appearances in the past week. �Powell got into trouble right away in the top of the 1st. �Toledo's lead-off hitter, 2B Will Rhymes, began the game with a bloop single into short center field. �DH Jon Weber grounded slowly to 2B Jim Negrych, who tried for a double play. �Rhymes was easily out at second base, but Weber beat out SS Argenis Diaz's relay throw to first base. �A passed ball by C Erik Kratz put Weber on second base, and he scored from there when 1B Jeff Frazier followed with a line drive into the right-center alley for an RBI double. �LF Ryan Strieby drove in Frazier with another line drive, this one into center, and the Indians were down 2-0.

Photo: �Alex Presley in center field

At that point, Powell flipped a switch. �He settled down and retired the next two batters on an easy fly out and a grounder force out to short. �He worked around a one-out double by RF Wilkin Ramirez in the 2nd, and worked around a one-out infield single by Frazier in the 3rd. �SS Brent Dlugach led off the 6th with a grounder to short, and was safe at first when Argenis Diaz's throw came in high so that 1B Jeff Clement had to leap to catch it (ruled a hit). �Powell responded by getting CF Casper Wells to bounce into a 4-6-3 (Negrych to Diaz to Clement) double play, and struck out Ramirez to end the inning. �Then Powell retired the side in order in the 5th. �He finished his night's work having thrown 64 pitches (48 strikes), and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits, no walks, with two strikeouts.

The Indians were frustrated in their first attempt at a come-back in the 2nd inning. �With one out, 3B Brian Myrow lined a single into right field, and CF Alex Presley lined a single into left field. �Myrow raced around to third, sliding into the bag head-first just ahead of the throw in from left field. �Presley alertly advanced to second base while the Mud Hens were busy worrying about Myrow. �Erik Kratz walked on 4 straight pitches, and the Indians looked like they were going to get some runs back. �But Argenis Diaz bounced into a double play, ending the inning and the threat.

Indianapolis Indians 9, Toledo Mud Hens 8 (box)

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The Indianapolis Indians came back from a 5-run deficit tonight at Victory Field, led by two big hits and 5 RBI by 1B Jeff Clement (photo) and 3 hits each by DH Brandon Moss and 2B Jim Negrych. Six runs in the 6th inning made the difference, and the Tribe held off the Mud Hens' rally in the 9th to hold onto the win in front of a full house of 14,537 fans.

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Mike Crotta started the game with a quick first inning, but the Mud Hens attacked in the 2nd. DH Ryan Strieby led off with a double into right field, and 3B Jeff Larish lined a single into left field, moving Strieby to third. After a strikeout, Crotta walked RF Casper Wells to load the bases. LF Jon Weber drove in both Strieby and Larish with a double that skittered down the left field chalk line, barely fair. C Jeff Kunkel made it 4-0 with a triple off the wall in right-center field. Tribe CF Jonathan Van Every could not run back fast enough, and the ball sailed over his head and bounced off the wall and away from Van Every. Both Wells and Weber scored as Van Every was busy tracking down the ball. Finally, a ground out and a pop out in foul territory ended the inning.

The Mud Hens added another run in the 3rd inning. 1B Jeff Frazier started the inning with a double down the left field line that tipped the end of 3B Steve Pearce's (photo) glove as he made a desperate dive. A ground out to first moved Frazier to third base, and another double, this one down the right field line by Larish, brought Frazier in to score. Crotta continued to struggle in the 3rd inning. He walked Weber on four pitches to open the inning, and once again proved that it's a bad idea to walk the lead-off batter. It came back to haunt him, when Kunkel's slow grounder moved Weber to second base, and 2B Will Rhymes' line drive double into center field plated Weber.

The Indians were already behind 5-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd inning, when they got onto the scoreboard. With one out, Brandon Moss dropped a bloop single over the head of Toledo 2B Will Rhymes. Jim Negrych followed with his second single of the game, a liner into left field, and since he was off and running, Moss made it to third on the hit. Steve Pearce was robbed of an RBI hit when his prospective line drive into left field ended up in the mitt of 3B Jeff Larish. Jeff Clement did the honors instead, plating both Moss and Negrych with a line drive that rattled around in the right field corner. C Erik Kratz walked, but both he and Clement were left on base when LF Alex Presley, making his AAA debut, lined out too.

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Brian Myrow tags out Fernando Perez trying to steal third base.

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Durham Bulls �2, �Indianapolis Indians �0 (box)

Three Durham Bulls' pitchers held the Indians to just one hit as they shut out the Tribe at Victory Field tonight. �It spoiled a strong performance by Indians' starter Daniel McCutchen, who pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk, while striking out 4 batters.

The Indians' first batter in the bottom of the 1st, Kevin Melillo, worked a 5-pitch walk from Bull's starter Brian Baker. �Baker, who is usually a reliever, was making a spot start for Durham, because their starter who ought to have been next in the rotation ended up going on the disabled list. �RF Brandon Moss bunted Melillo to second base with a sacrifice. �2B Jim Negrych (photo) grounded to short, but instead of holding at second to see how the play would develop, Melillo headed for third. �He was an easy out at third base, with Negrych safe at first on the fielder's choice. �1B Steve Pearce, on his rehab assignment, struck out to end the inning.

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Baker pitched 4 more innings, his longest outing of the season. �He retired the Indians in order over those innings, including four strikeouts.

The Indians were happy to see Baker sitting down after 5 innings. �Another Bulls' reliever, Mike Ekstrom, came on for the next two innings, and the first batter he faced, CF Jonathan Van Every, greeted the new pitcher with a line drive single into right field. �But SS Argenis Diaz bounced to second base, where 2B Joe Dillon started a 4-6-3 double play, erasing Van Every. �Melillo struck out to end that inning, and Ekstrom retired the side in order in the 7th. �RJ Swindle pitched the last two innings for the Bulls. �He also set 6 Tribe batters down in order. �The closest any of the Indians came to getting a hit other than Van Every's, was C Erik Kratz, who hit a loud and long fly ball to left field in the 8th inning. �Not long enough, though, as Durham's LF Justin Ruggiano made the catch with his back to the left field wall.

Photo: �Daniel McCutchen is keeping his right arm warm on the bench, while Erik Kratz gets ready to move into the on-deck circle.

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Buffalo Bison �6, �Indianapolis Indians �4 (box)

Three home runs by Buffalo RF Valentino Pascucci powered the Bison over the Indians at Coca-Cola Park in Buffalo tonight. �The Tribe tried for a late-inning come-back, but fell short, despite another strong effort by the bullpen. �Starter Brian Burres (photo)�took the loss, as he allowed two of Pascucci's homers.

Pascucci began his big night in the bottom of the 1st. �SS Andy Green led off the inning with a double into left field. �Brian Burres walked 2B Justin Turner, then gave up the 3-run bomb over the left field wall to Pascucci. �The Bison added another run in each of the next two innings. �In the 2nd, Burres walked the lead-off batter, C Josh Thole, and CF Jonathan Malo followed with a double, moving Thole to third base. �Green's sacrifice fly plated Thole, and the Bison had a 4-0 lead. �They made it 5-0 in the 3rd, on Pascucci's second home run of the game -- at least this was a solo homer, leading off the inning.

Buffalo starter John Maine, on a rehab assignment from the Mets, had the Indians' batters well in hand for the first four innings. �He gave up a walk to RF Brandon Moss in the top of the 1st. �Moss stole second base, then went to third on 2B Jim Negrych's ground out, but Moss got no further. �Maine retired the Tribe batters in order in the 2nd, then walked two more Indians, Brian Burres and LF Kevin Melillo in the 3rd. �They were also left stranded when Maine retired the next two batters to end the inning. �Three Indians sat down in order in the 4th too.

CF Jonathan Van Every (photo) began the top of the 5th with the Indians' first hit of the game, a double into right field. �After a strikeout by SS Argenis Diaz, Brandon Jones came on to pinch hit for Burres. �Jones reached base on a grounder to second base, when Maine, covering first base, dropped the ball on the toss from 2B Justin Turner. �That put runners on the corners for the Indians, and ended Maine's evening. �Reliever Mike O'Connor came on for Buffalo. �He first faced Kevin Melillo and got him to ground out to first, but that allowed Van Every to score from third base. �It was the only run the Indians would get in the inning, as another ground out by Brandon Moss ended the brief rally.

Brian Burres also left the game after just 4 innings. �He had allowed 5 runs on a total of 5 hits -- two home runs plus the sacrifice fly. �Burres had thrown 78 pitches (46 for strikes). �Jeremy Powell took over for Burres, and struck out the side with 15 pitches. �Brian Bass took his turn in the 6th, and he also retired the side in order, on three straight ground outs. �Steven Jackson, recently reactivated from the disabled list, worked around a single for a scoreless 7th inning.

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre �8, � �Indianapolis Indians �6 (box)

Seven runs on 11 hits in the first four innings put the Indians in a big hole tonight at PNC Field in Scranton, PA, and though they tried mightily, they could not climb back out.

Starter Mike Crotta (photo) was hit hard by the Yankees, and did not make it out of the 4th inning. �The Yankees scored in each of the first four innings, as they piled up those 11 hits and took advantage of an Indians' error. �Crotta started the bottom of the 1st with a ground out, then gave up a single to LF Colin Curtis which slipped through the left side of the infield past the shifted-over SS Doug Bernier. Curtis was off and running on the next batter, SS Eduardo Nunez, as he took a double into left field, and Curtis was able to come around to score. �1B Juan Miranda struck out on three pitches, but Nunez stole third base, and then scored on 3B Jorge Vasquez's line drive single into left field. �C Jesus Montero doubled, bringing in Montero, before DH David Winfree struck out to end the rally. �Crotta had thrown 23 pitches to get through the inning, and the Yankees had a 3-0 lead.

They came right back at Crotta in the 2nd inning. �With one out, CF Greg Golson doubled into the left field corner, and moved to third on a ground out by RF Reid Gorecki. �Curtis grounded to 1B Jeff Clement, moving to his right to make the play. �But when Clement flipped the ball to Crotta covering first base, the throw was low and skipped past Crotta. �Instead of the inning being over, Golson scored on the hit and RBI, and Curtis advanced to second base on the throwing error. �A ground out ended the inning, with the Yankees adding the one run, 4-0. �The inning took Crotta another 23 pitches.

It didn't get any better in the 3rd inning. �Miranda began the inning with a double off the center field wall, and Jorge Vasquez followed with a home run over the left field wall. �Montero singled through the hole at short, past Doug Bernier, for a single after the homer. �Then Crotta got some better breaks -- a strikeout by Winfree, a grounder off Crotta's glove that 2B Jim Negrych (photo) saved from going into center field. �Negrych made a dive behind second base, then recovered in time to flip the ball back over his shoulder to Bernier covering second for the force out. �Bernier's throw on to first base was high, but it was not in time to get Reegie Corona. �A ground out ended the inning, and that took Crotta 18 pitches -- the pitch count was climbing quickly, and the Yankees led 6-0.

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Frank and Pedro

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Indianapolis Indians �5, �Columbus Clippers �3 (box)

Brian Burres (photo)�finally got to play a game for the Tribe, in his third stint on the Indians' roster. �He earned the win at Victory Field tonight, with 5.1 solid innings of work. �He was aided by DH Brandon Moss, whose clutch double drove in three runs in the 5th, as the Indians posted 10 hits for 5 runs.

Burres had been on the Indians' Opening Day roster, but went back to the Pirates when Ross Ohlendorf had problems with back spasms just a few days into the Indians' season. �He was optioned back to the Indians on April 21st, but called back 4 days later, again without having made an appearance for the Tribe, when Chris Jakubauskas was hit by a batted ball. �With Dana Eveland joining the Pirates, Burress was sent down again... and this time has at least gotten one start in this time... in case the Pirates need him again.

Burres got off to a good start tonight. �He retired all three batters in the 1st inning, including striking out both former Indy Indian DH Brian Bixler, who had his way with the Tribe yesterday, and also C Carlos Santana, the top Cleveland Indians' prospect. �Burres gave up a two-out single to 3B Jared Goedert in the 2nd inning, but ended the inning my making the catch on a soft pop to just in front of the mound (photo below, as Burres examines the ball after making the catch).

Brian Bixler was a problem for his former teammates again tonight. �When Burres faced him again in the third inning, after CF Michael Brantley single past the diving Tribe 2B Brian Friday, Bixler took a long high fly ball down the left field line. �The ball sailed just inside the foul pole, then hooked around the back of the pole, but it was fair when it counted -- a 2-run home run to give Columbus a 2-0 lead.

Burres worked out of a jam in the 5th. �After two outs, including a nice snatch of a sinking line drive by RF Kevin Melillo, Burres gave up a single to RF Chris Gimenez and a a walk to 2B Josh Rodriguez. �An easy grounder to short for a force out at second ended the inning without a run scoring.

The Indians went down in order in the 1st inning, then were unable to take advantage of runners on base in the next two innings. �3B Pedro Alvarez led off the 2nd with a single lined into center field. �Moments later, though, Alvarez was caught straying a little too far off first base, probably as he was trying to work out the timing of Clippers' starter Josh Tomlin's delivery. �There was a brief run-down, pitcher to 1B Wes Hodges to SS Anderson Hernandez, and Alvarez was out. �CF Jonathan Van Every walked in that inning, but he was left stranded. �In the 3rd, SS Doug Bernier drove a liner over the leaping Hodges and into right field for a single. �He moved to third base on Kevin Melillo's loopy single that just fell in, in short center field, but both runners were left on base.

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Indianapolis Indians �5, �Columbus Clippers �0 (box)

The Indians shut out the Columbus Clippers, who currently reside in first place in the International League Western Division, at Victory Field tonight, to begin an 8-game home stand. �Four Indians' pitchers, starter Mike Crotta (photo above), Vinnie Chulk, Justin Thomas, and Brian Bass, combined to hold the Clippers to 4 hits and 4 walks, while the Tribe batters piled up 10 hits for 5 runs.

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Mike Crotta pitched 5.1 scoreless innings to earn his 3rd win with the Indians, needing 87 pitches (46 strikes) to get the job done. �He was responsible for 3 of the hits and 3 of the walks. �He kept his infielders busy, as all of the outs he recorded were either ground outs, except for two strikeouts and one runner thrown out at second base.

Crotta gave up a 2-out double to Columbus catcher Carlos Santana in the 1st inning, but ended the inning with a bouncing grounder to SS Argenis Diaz (photo above). �Crotta retired the Clippers in order in the 2nd and 3rd innings, then gave up a walk to former Indy Indian 2B Brian Bixler (photo) to begin the 4th. �Santana followed with a grounder to third base, and as 3B Pedro Alvarez made the scoop and throw to first, the speedy Bixler got a good jump and broke for third base, where he slid in safely before 1B Brian Myrow could return the throw across the diamond. �Bixler was left standing there, though, as Crotta struck out 1B Wes Hodges and got DH Jordan Brown to ground out to second.

Crotta had to have a little help from his friends to get out of the 5th inning. �LF Nick Weglarz worked a walk to open the inning, then 3B Brian Buscher hit a high hop right to Brian Myrow at first base. �Myrow turned and fired to second base, forcing out Weglarz, then scrambled back to cover the first base bag and take the return throw from Argenis Diaz for the double play. �SS Anderson Hernandez followed with a line drive into center field for a single, but when he tried to steal second base, C Luke Carlin's throw was right on target, and the inning was over.

Crotta and Carlin did not have the same luck in the 6th. �With one out, CF Michael Brantley slipped a single through the hole and into left field. �He stole second base, and as he slid in, Carlin's throw might have hit the ground near second base, or maybe even hit Brantley, but either way, the ball ricocheted into center field, and Brantley took off for third base. �Argenis Diaz chased down the ball and threw to third as Brantley was reaching the base there, but Diaz's throw went way wide of third, and very nearly sailed into the Indians' dugout. �Brian Bixler worked his second walk of the game, and that was all for Crotta.

Vinnie Chulk came on in relief, and the speedy Bixler stole second base without drawing a throw from Carlin, putting two runners in scoring position. �But Chulk made it not matter -- he struck out both Carlos Santana and Wes Hodges to end the inning without the Clippers scoring.

First, the Indians had to finish up yesterdays' game -- suspended due to rain. �Then they had to play a 7-inning game for today.

Gwinnett Braves �4, �Indianapolis Indians �3 � (suspended, now finished) (box)

Home runs were the key in the first part of this game, which was started on Monday night -- read more about it here. Gwinnett's Barbaro Canizares started the scoring with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st. �Indians' LF Brandon Moss knocked a solo homer in the top of the 2nd, and Braves' Alex Romero answered with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the inning.

The Braves were leading 3-1 going into the bottom of the 4th. �Starter Daniel McCutchen (photo) got into trouble quickly, when LF Matt Young bounced a weird hop off 2B Argenis Diaz's shoulder for an error. �Alex Romero walked, putting runners on first and second, as the rain got serious. �A double steal moved the runners to second and third. �SS Brandon Hicks came to the plate and had a 1-2 count on him when the game was halted.

McCutchen finished with 3 innings of work, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. �Two of those hits and runs came on homers. �McCutchen threw 58 pitches, 30 for strikes.

When the game resumed on Tuesday, Anthony Claggett took over for McCutchen, inheriting two runners on base and a 1-2 count on Hicks at the plate. �Claggett threw two balls, but then got Hicks to ground out easily to Pedro Alvarez at third, with the runners forced to hold their positions. �C Clint Sammons bounced to first base, where 1B Brian Myrow scooped and fired back home, where C Erik Kratz tagged out the lead runner Young at the plate. �Claggett ended the inning with a strikeout, escaping the jam without letting a run score.

The Braves scored again in the 5th inning. �CF Jordan Schafer lined a single into center field, and when Claggett tried to pick him off first base, the throw hit Schafer. �After taking a few minutes to make sure he was ok, Schafer popped up and stole second base on the next pitch. �A sacrifice bunt by 3B Wes Timmons moved Schafer to third base, and a single lined into left field brought him home. �Braves up, 4-1.

The Indians rallied in the top of the 6th. �CF Jon Van Every led off with a walk. �He moved to second base, then on to third, on ground outs by Argenis Diaz and Brian Myrow. �Pedro Alvarez smacked a double to deep center field, to plate Van Every. �Erik Kratz (photo) followed with a single slipped through the hole and into left field, and Alvarez raced around third to score. �That put the Tribe within one run of the Braves, at 4-3. �The rally ended when RF Brandon Jones grounded out.

Anthony Claggett also pitched the 6th inning, allowing only a walk. �He came out to begin the 7th inning, and got a strikeout, before turning the ball over to Justin Thomas. Claggett�finished with 3.1 innings of work, allowing one run on 2 hits and a walk, with 4 strikeouts. �Thomas finished the 7th inning with two quick outs, a strikeout and a fly out. �Brian Bass came on to pitch the 8th, working around a lead-off single to keep the Braves scoreless again.

After their two runs in the 6th, the Indians managed only one base runner for the rest of the game. �Manager Frank Kremblas decide not to use a pinch-hitter for Anthony Claggett. �Batting for himself, Claggett worked the count full then took a walk. �He moved to second base on a wild pitch, but was left there at the end of the inning. �The Indians went down in order in the 8th and 9th innings, including three strikeouts.

Argenis Diaz was the only Tribe batter to have 2 hits in the game (both singles). �Daniel McCutchen was charged with the loss, his second of the season with the Tribe.

Indians' Hitting Gem of the Game: �Brandon Moss's (photo) solo home run, which put the Indians on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning.

Indians' Defensive Gem of the Game: �In the bottom of the 3rd inning, with one out and Joe Thurston on first base, Barbaro Canizares bounced a slow roller to Pedro Alvarez at third. �Alvarez grabbed it on the second hop, then fired to second base, where 2B Brian Friday made the pivot and threw on to first base for the inning-ending double play, which cut short the Braves' rally.

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