It was a perfect ending to a perfect 77 degree night at Huntington Park Saturday. With the game tied at three in the bottom of the ninth inning, Columbus Clippers catcher Chris Wallace delivered a clutch two-out single to right field for a 4-3 walk off victory over the Scranton/WB RailRiders. Right fielder Matt Carson walked to begin the inning and then quickly swiped second to put himself into scoring position. Left fielder Cedric Hunter then laid a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to advance Carson to third. But with one swing of the bat, Wallace became a hero and did so in front of the Clippers’ first sellout crowd of the season.
A solid first half for the Akron Aeros was not enough to hold off the Erie SeaWolves, who prevailed 4-2 on Saturday night at Canal Park. Akron’s tough defense and strong hitting carried over from Friday night but was overshadowed by weak relief pitching late in the game. The SeaWolves, who are second in the Eastern League in hitting, started out slow but smacked 10 crucial hits beginning in the fourth inning. After a 2-0 deficit early on, the SeaWolves rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning and added one more in the ninth for the win.
The Carolina Mudcats dropped their sixth straight game to the Lynchburg Hillcats, falling 7-3 Saturday night at Calvin Falwell Field. Six unearned runs against the Mudcats over two innings allowed the Hillcats to achieve an easy victory. Right-handed pitcher Nick Pasquale (0-2) took the loss for the Mudcats. Pasquale allowed seven runs on ten hits in 4.2 innings, but only one of the seven runs was earned.
The Lake County Captains put a dent in the Fort Wayne TinCaps’ evening with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night. Lefty Ryan Merritt (1-3, 3.50) received the start for Lake County to counter Fort Wayne righty Ruben Mejia (2-3, 2.70). The Captains raked some early run support for Merritt in the first as shortstop Dorssys Paulino reached on a one-out error and scored on a single off the bat of designated hitter Richard Stock.
After closer Chris Perez gave up back-to-back solo homers in the top of the ninth, the Tribe righted the ship in the bottom half, as Mark Reynolds hit a run-scoring fielder’s choice with the bases loaded as the Indians beat Seattle 5-4. The win is the team’s third in a row and improves their record to 19-7 over the past 26 games. The Tribe is at the top of the American League Central with a 24-17 record, holding a half-game lead over the Detroit Tigers. Join Nathan Kemp as he recaps the action from Saturday's win.
The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.
The IBI's Michael Hattery often finds himself spending the majority of his time trying to pick holes in the Indians roster that could eventually be their downfall or equalizing force. Attempting to find players who are so far outplaying their capability that regression both as a player and as a team is inevitable. This is not to say he is not thoroughly enjoying every moment of Tribe baseball but merely that he is hesitant to heap unfair expectations on this exciting and altogether exuberant team. In this week's Trend Spotting feature he touches on the play of Drew Stubbs and some concerns at third base.
Ladies and gentlemen, something special is brewing in Cleveland. With each dramatic win, the Indians are giving fans more of a reason to believe. And it’s evident that fans are starting to believe as they turned out in droves at the ballpark Friday night to dine on some dollar dogs, enjoy some fireworks and take in another exciting Tribe victory in walkoff fashion. The IBI's Jake Dungan provides his second thoughts on a thrilling 6-3 walkoff Indians win.
Matt Weaver’s third hit of the night proved to be a knockout blow as the Lynchburg Hillcats edged the Carolina Mudcats 7-6 in 11 innings on Friday night at Calvin Falwell Field inside City Stadium. The game was Carolina’s fifth in the last seven games decided by one run.
Lake Erie's ninth inning comeback fell one run short as the Crushers fell to the Gateway Grizzlies 3-2 on opening night at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon. In front of 2,938 local baseball fans, the Crushers put up a fight all game long but could not overcome the dominant start by Gateway's Tim Brown.
It was a full slate of action on Friday night as all of the Indians affiliates were back in action. Ezequiel Carrera chipped in with a good all-around showing in Columbus, Tyler Naquin was an on-base machine in Carolina, Charlie Valerio continued his good season to date and more. The IBI's Arthur Kinney takes us around the farm...
Brett Myers was the headline, but it was a combined effort from pitcher Will Roberts and several major hits from the Aeros lineup that led to an Aeros 4-1 victory over the Erie SeaWolves Friday night at Canal Park. The win snapped their three game losing streak to successfully begin a seven-game homestand.
The Fort Wayne Tincaps (24-15) scored two runs in the seventh inning and withheld a rally by the Lake County Captains (13-25) to take game one of the series on Friday night in front of 5,847 fans by a final score of 4-3.
The Columbus Clippers got a big win on Friday night, thanks to a dominant performance from Clippers starter Brett Brach and some early offense. Brach pitched 7.1 nearly flawless innings for Columbus. He allowed only one run, two walks, and six hits on the evening, and had Chiefs hitters guessing all night long.
Change is inevitable in the game of professional baseball, and for Double-A Akron outfielder Quincy Latimore, the changes started from the bottom – literally. Latimore, who was formerly a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, was required to wear his pants down over his socks before he joined the Cleveland Indians’ farm system. Now, he’s done away with the high socks and joined a new team.
On Monday, the Cleveland Indians sent third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall down to Triple-A Columbus. The move came across as somewhat surprising, but should it have been? Chisenhall has struggled mightily so far in his Major League career, so maybe we should have all seen it coming. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he looks back at Chisenhall and his demotion in this week's edition of Orbiting Cleveland.
The 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!
