MVN - Most Valuable Network

Indians Win in the Ninth

Indianapolis Indians 5,
Norfolk Tides 2

boxscore

The Indianapolis Indians decided to put the month of April, particularly the last 5 days or so, completely behind them. May is a new month, and they are going to make a new start.

That new plan began tonight, as the Indians snapped their 5-game losing streak with a 9th inning rally to beat the Norfolk Tides at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.

With the game tied at 1-1, the Indians started off the top of the 9th inning with a single to right field by 2B Matt Kata. 1B Adam Boeve dropped down an almost-accidental bunt (he had to hit the pitch or get hit by it) to put Kata onto second base.

SS Josh Wilson worked a walk. LF Jorge Cortes, who is off to a slow 3-for-30 start this season, grounded to short, but Tides’ SS Mike McCoy had trouble coming up with the ball, and what could have been a double play instead became the bases loaded. That brought up CF Andrew McCutchen (photo), who worked a 3-2 count, and then managed to check his swing on ball four. At least, that was the umpire’s call. Of course, the Tides didn’t see it that way, and manager Gary Allenson argued loud and long, got ejected, continued to argue, kicked the dirt, and argued more. But in the end, it was still ball four, and McCutchen was on first base, and Matt Kata had scored the go-ahead run.

The Indians weren’t done yet, and it was a good thing. 3B Neil Walker (photo) came to the plate, and he took a 1-0 pitch right back up the middle for a 2-RBI single. McCutchen reached second base on Walker’s hit, and he tried to steal third base, but was thrown out at third base as his trailing leg seemed to stumble on the slide. Walker alertly moved up to second base on the play, and a passed ball advanced him to third base. That put Walker in position to score the fourth Tribe run of the inning when RF Steve Pearce grounded to third base. Pearce himself was safe at first as the Tides’ 3B Mike Costanzo made a throwing error on the play. A pop up to second base by DH Craig Wilson ended the inning.

The insurance runs proved vital, as the Tides tried to return fire in the bottom of the 9th. With reliever Romulo Sanchez (photo) on the mound for the Indians and one out, Mike Costanzo tripled into left field and 1B Chris Heintz singled to score Costanzo. Sanchez held on to end the inning and the game with a pop out and a fly out.

Tribe starter Luis Munoz had beaten the Tides when he faced them a few weeks ago — in fact, that was his only win. Tonight, Munoz turned in a 7-inning performance, throwing 86 pitches (61 strikes). He allowed only one run on 6 scattered hits, and struck out 4 Tide batters. The Tides got back-to-back singles in the 2nd inning and almost scored. With two outs, 1B Chris Heintz singled first, and RF Adam Stern followed with a single into center field, where it bounced off Andrew McCutchen’s glove. When McCutchen got to the ball and threw it in to 2B Matt Kata, Heintz was heading for home, and Stern was caught between first and second bases. Kata chased Stern back toward first base, and then threw to 1B Adam Boeve, who chased Stern toward second base and tagged him out — just a split second before Heintz could cross the plate to score. The Tides got two more singles in the 5th inning, but Munoz got a pop out and a strikeout to get out of the jam.

Jesse Chavez took over for Munoz to pitch the 8th inning. He gave up a walk, but held the Tides scoreless, and he got credit for the win as he was the pitcher of record when the Indians scored in the top of the 9th.

The Indians didn’t fare much better against Tides’ starter Andy Mitchell. Matt Kata (photo) and Adam Boeve hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the 2nd inning, but were left stranded when Josh Wilson grounded out. Andrew McCutchen and Steve Pearce both singled in the third inning, but again both were left on base.

The Indians got their first run in the 5th inning, on Andrew McCutchen’s 6th homer of the season. The Tides came back to tie the game in the 7th inning. Mike Costanzo doubled over McCutchen’s head in center field, and he moved to third base when Chris Heintz bunted back to Luis Munoz, who stumbled and fell, giving Heintz a hit. Adam Stern grounded into a double play, but Costanzo scored from third base on the play, tying the score, and setting up the excitement in the 9th inning.

Indians’ Hitting Gem of the Game: Neil Walker’s single in the top of the ninth, good for two RBI, which gave the Indians the insurance runs they were going to need in the bottom of the inning.

Indians’ Defensive Gem of the Game: Seven strong innings for Luis Munoz, at a time when the starting pitching needed to step up and get a quality start.

Go Tribe!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Jesse Chavez, Steve Pearce, Adam Boeve, Matt Kata, Jorge Cortes, Romulo Sanchez, Michel Hernandez, AAA - Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects, Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates Minor-League Affiliates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.