| 03 September 2010
The wind had the flags doing this, and the flag poles swaying, all evening.
Louisville Bats 16, Indianapolis Indians 6 .. (box)
It got ugly early at Victory Field tonight, and it didn't get much better as the game went on. The Louisville Bats clobbered the Indianapolis Indians 16 - 6, and the two teams combined for a total of 30 hits.
The Ugly:
* Starter Mike Crotta (photo) lasted only one inning. The first four batters in the top of the 1st reached base: a slow roller single to short that CF Dave Sappelt beat out for a single, double down the left field line by SS Zach Cozart, four pitch walk to RF Danny Dorn, and a bases-clearing triple to the 418' mark in left-center by 1B Todd Frazier. Tribe SS Pedro Ciriaco made a diving stop and great throw to first base to make the first out of the inning on C Devin Mesoraco, then Crotta walked 3B Mike Costanzo. 2B Eric Eymann hit a little dribbler just a few feet in front of home, but when C Jason Jaramillo had to leave the plate to field the ball, since he had a better angle than Crotta did for the throw to first, then Frazier took the opportunity to break for home and score. LF Michael Griffin capped the inning with a wind-aided 2-run homer over the right field wall. Crotta struck out Bats' pitcher Tom Cochran to end the inning. The Bats had a 6 run advantage before the Indians came to the plate.
*After two scoreless innings and just one walk, reliever Corey Hamman (photo) got into trouble in the 4th. With one out, Michael Griffin drove another triple to the 418' sign in left-center. Hamman struck out Cochran again, for the second out of the inning, but he had trouble finding that third out. The next four batters reached base -- an RBI double into center field by Sappelt, a walk to Cozart, a 2-RBI double that rattled around in the right field corner by Dorn, and an RBI double out of CF Alex Presley's reach in center by Frazier. Bats lead, 10-3.
*Anthony Claggett gave up another 2-run homer to Griffin in the 5th inning, for a 12 - 3 lead. Then he gave up 3 more runs in the 7th. With one out, he surrendered a double to Eymann, singles to Griffin and pinch-hitter Sean Henry (RBI), then after a ground out, another RBI single by Cozart. Claggett was relieved by Brian Bass, who gave up another single to Dorn, driving in the third run of the inning. Bats up 15-6.
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*By the 9th inning, things were completely out of hand. The only pitchers left in the bullpen were Justin Thomas, Steven Jackson, and Jean Machi, all of whom pitched yesterday. Rather than burn one of them in what was becoming a lost cause, Jonathan Van Every came in to pitch (photo). Van Every has pitched a few times before, including for the Boston Red Sox in a blow-out game earlier this year. He faced five Louisville batters in the top of the 9th. Henry started by doubling into center field. Then Van Every got two outs, when Sappelt lined out to short and Cozart flied out. Dorn also doubled, plating Henry with the Bats' 16th run of the game. Van Every ended the inning by striking out pinch-hitter Luis Terrero. (Note the smirk.)
*Twice the Indians had the bases loaded with two outs, but could not bring anyone across the plate. In both the 2nd and 4th innings, LF Kevin Melillo and Pedro Ciriaco hit back-to-back singles, then Alex Presley walked to load the bases. But in the 2nd, 1B Mitch Jones flied out. In the 4th, Jones teased the crowd with a long fly ball down the left field line, but the ball curled foul, and Jones eventually popped out in foul territory.
*2B Brian Friday, who is 0-for-5 games (0-for-13), and 4-for-26 in his last 10 games, struck out looking in the 5th, and the frustration got to be too much. He had a few words for home plate umpire Travis Brown, and they were the wrong words. Friday was ejected. (That was why Jonathan Van Every entered the game.)
*The Indians posted 12 hits, but scored only 6 runs, leaving 10 runners on base. They were 3-for-9 with runnerss in scoring position. The Bats had 16 runs on 18 hits, and left only 6 runners on base. Of those 6, only one runner was left on base in the first 5 innings. They went 10-for-20 with runners in scoring position.
There were a few good points:
* The Indians came to the plate in the bottom of the 1st, down by 6 runs, but they did not roll over. Kevin Melillo (photo) and Pedro Ciriaco struck out to begin the inning, but the next four Indians reached base as the Tribe cut the Bats' lead in half. Alex Presley lifted a fly ball to right field. Three Bats converged, and similar to what happened in left-center field last night, they all looked at one another, then let the ball fall between them. Presley was credited with a double, but it was a communication error by the Bats. Mitch Jones blooped a single into center, scoring Presley from second. RF Brandon Moss ripped a double into the right field corner, but because Bats' RF Dorn got the ball back to the infield quickly, Jones had to stop at third base. Jason Jaramillo took care of that, with a double grounded down the right field line, to score both Jones and Moss. For two more innings, the Indians were only down 3 runs, 6-3.
* In the 6th, Brandon Moss blasted a 3-run home run, a no-doubter over the right-center field wall, near the light pole and just about 10 feet away from the red pick-up truck. (Moss reportedly hit the truck during batting practice.) Pedro Ciriaco was on second base after an infield single that slid under 3B Mike Costanzo's glove and a wild pitch. Mitch Jones was on first base after a walk.
* Pedro Ciriaco singled three times and scored once.
* Kevin Melillo, Alex Presley, and Brandon Moss each had two hits. One of Presley's was a double, and Moss had a double and the homer.
* Brian Bass pitched to 6 batters, and allowed 2 hits, but was not responsible for any Bats' runs.
* Jonathan Van Every was clearly having fun pitching (photo). Luis Terrero was not thinking it was much fun to be struck out by an outfielder masquerading as a pitcher.
* Indians' Hitting Gem of the Game: Moss's homer. It was his 22nd of the season, and he now has 93 RBI. That is second in the International League, just two behind Durham's Dan Johnson, who isn't even playing for Durham any longer. Moss has 3 more games to catch up. The third highest total, 87, belongs to Freddie Freeman who is no longer with the Gwinnett Braves.
* Indians' Defensive Gem of the Game: Doug Bernier made some nice plays at third. In the 2nd, he stretched out completely going to his left to make the stop on a grounder by Dave Sappelt, then fired to first base for the out. In the 3rd, with Frazier on first base, Devin Mesoraco grounded to third, where Bernier made another amazing stop, then started a 5-4-3 (Bernier to Friday to Jones) double play.
* Brandon Moss got acrobatic as the team took the field to begin the game (photo sequence):
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More conventional running from Moss; Bryan Myrow
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Jason Jaramillo; and Erik Kratz at first
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NOTES:
John Bowker (photo) has been named the Indians' Player of the Month for August. He led the team with a .319 average and 4 home runs in August, as well as 7 doubles, 2 triples, and 10 RBI in the month.
Jeff Clement, who was with the Indians for two days to rehab his left knee, has returned to Pittsburgh. He now has a left oblique strain that the team doctors are looking at. He had the same problem this time last season.
Go Tribe!
(photos by Nancy)
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