INDIANS WALK OFF WITH 4-3 WIN OVER CHIEFS
Tribe Scores Twice In Bottom of The Ninth For Victory
INDIANAPOLIS -- Second baseman Brian Friday tripled home the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth, before center fielder Alex Presley plated Friday with a single to left to give the Indianapolis Indians a 4-3 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs in front of a crowd of 13,284 on Saturday night at Victory Field.
With the win, Indianapolis improves to 62-60 on the season, while the loss drops Syracuse’s record to 62-59. The victory also improves the Tribe’s record to 5-1 against the Chiefs this season after the Indians took three out of four in a series in Syracuse at the end of July.
Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the top of the ninth, LF Boomer Whiting drew a walk, stole second and moved to third on an Indians’ throwing error. Chiefs’ SS Danny Espinosa then provided what looked to be the game-winning hit when he blasted a two-run home run to deep right-center field to give Syracuse a 3-2 advantage.
However, Indianapolis would not go away quietly as SS Pedro Ciriaco led off the bottom of the ninth with a line drive double to left and quickly tied the score after trotting home on Friday’s three-bagger. Ciriaco was the offensive star on the evening for the Tribe as he not only scored the game-tying tally, but also drove in the Indians’ first two runs of the game with an RBI double in the second and sacrifice fly in the sixth.
After Friday brought Ciriaco plateward in the final frame, Syracuse loaded the bases with intentional walks to pinch-hitter Mitch Jones and LF Kevin Melillo. Then, after a pitching change and defensive shift that saw the Chiefs place five fielders around the infield, Presley came through with a clutch base hit to left to score Friday and give the Tribe the victory.
The trio of Presley (2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI), Friday (2-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB) and Ciriaco (2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI), which led the Indians’ ninth inning rally, also paced the Tribe’s offensive attack as all three collected multiple base knocks on the evening.
Syracuse had drawn to within striking distance with a run in the eighth as former Indians’ infielder Brian Bixler belted a single to left to score Espinosa, who led off the frame with a walk before moving to third on back-to-back steals. The base knock for Bixler (3-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 SB) was his team-best third on the night, while Espinosa (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB) and Whiting (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB) also posted multi-hit efforts for the Chiefs.
Neither starter figured in the final decision as Indianapolis RHP Mike Crotta (6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) tied a season-high with six strikeouts, while scattering six hits over his six innings of work and Chiefs’ starter Andrew Kown (5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) allowed just two runs on six hits over 5.1 innings.
Tribe reliever Justin Thomas (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) picked up the victory to improve to 4-0 on the season despite blowing the save and allowing two runs in 1.1 frames of work, while Syracuse reliever Adam Carr (0.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 after failing to record an out and surrendering two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
The Indians scored four runs on the evening to give all fans in attendance a four dollar discount off any ticket purchase for the Indians’ August 31, September 1 or September 2 home games, thanks to the Tribe’s Score-And-Win promotion. The Score-and-Win discount can be applied to any ticket at any price level, but cannot be combined with any other discount. All ticket exchanges must be made at the Victory Field Box Office.
Fans will have one last chance to take part in the Score-And-Win promotion on Sunday, August 15 when the Tribe takes on the Chiefs at 2:00 p.m. RHP Jeremy Powell is expected to get the start for the Tribe, while RHP Jordan Zimmermann is the probable starter for the Chiefs.
The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and broadcast live on Comcast and Bright House Networks digital channel 81 with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show on WXLW-950 AM begins at 1:40 p.m.
Post-game quotes -- 2B Brian Friday(on his game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth)
“(Indians’ SS Pedro Ciriaco) was standing at second so I knew he probably wasn’t going to give me a good fastball to hit. I was just looking for a pitch out over the plate and I was fortunate to run into one.”
Post-game quotes -- OF Alex Presley
(on his game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth)
“I was just looking for something up and out over the plate. They had five infielders so I didn’t want to hit a ground ball. I was looking for something up and I got a good pitch to put the barrel on.”
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