PITCHING PROPELS TRIBE PAST CHIEFS 5-2
Morton Strikes Out Six in Six, Bullpen Tosses Three Scoreless
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tribe starting pitcher Charlie Morton allowed just two runs on five hits and struck out six over six innings of work to outduel Chiefs’ starter Matt Chico, who suffered the loss despite surrendering just three runs and striking out a season high 10 as the Indianapolis Indians went on to defeat the Syracuse Chiefs 5-2 in front of a crowd of 12,010 on Friday night at Victory Field.
With the win, Indianapolis improves to 61-60 on the season, while the loss drops Syracuse’s record to 62-58. The victory also improves the Tribe’s record to 4-1 against the Chiefs this season after the Indians took three out of four in a series in Syracuse at the end of July.
Morton (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO) improved to 4-4 with the victory as he tied his season-high with six strikeouts and went at least six innings for the sixth consecutive start. The win for Morton also improved his record to 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA (6 ER in 12.2) and 11 strikeouts over two starts against the Chiefs this season.
Following Morton’s strong start, relievers Justin Thomas (1.0 IP, 1 SO), Steven Jackson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) and Jean Machi (1.0 IP, 2 SO) combined to hold Syracuse to just one hit, while striking out four over three innings of scoreless relief. Thomas and Jackson each went one frame to earn their eighth and sixth holds of the season, respectively, while Machi struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth to notch his 17th save of the season.
On the other side, Chico (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO) was brilliant in a losing effort as the left-hander struck out a season-high 10, including fanning eight of the final 10 batters he faced, but suffered the loss to fall to 6-7 on the year.
The Indianapolis offense jumped on Chico early, sparked by SS Pedro Ciriaco, who led off the bottom of the first with a triple to deep left field. Then, after 3B Doug Bernier reached on a fielder’s choice, Ciriaco came around to score the first run of the contest when CF Alex Presley rolled a base hit to right.
RF Brandon Moss then continued the first frame outburst when he singled to right to load the bases and set the stage for 1B Mitch Jones. After a wild pitch by Syracuse allowed Bernier to trot home with the second run of the game, Jones came through with what turned out to be the game-winning RBI when he lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Presley and give the Tribe an early 3-0 advantage.
The Chiefs would cut the lead down to one with single tallies in he fourth and sixth innings. CF Boomer Whiting ignited the first Syracuse score when he led off the fourth with a bunt single, stole second and came plateward when 2B Seth Bynum grounded into a double play.
Former Tribe INF Brian Bixler, who was playing in his third different uniform at Victory Field this season, drove home the Chiefs’ second score in the sixth when he bounced an infield single to third to plate starting pitcher Matt Chico, who lined a one-out single to center earlier in the frame. Bixler collected the only RBI for the Chiefs in his return to Victory Field after also playing for the Tribe and Columbus Clippers at the “Vic” earlier this season.
Syracuse would remain within striking distance until the eighth inning when Tribe C Jason Jaramillo provided some much needed insurance when he blasted a clutch two-out, two-run home run to right-center field. The longball for Jaramillo was his first in a Tribe uniform this season and plated LF John Bowker, who reached on a base hit to center one batter earlier.
Jaramillo (1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was the only batter on either side to drive in multiple runs, while Ciriaco (2-for-4, 1 R) and Bowker (2-for-4, 1 R) posted multi-hit efforts for the Tribe and Bixler (2-for-4) was the only Chiefs’ batter to collect multiple base knocks.
The Indians scored five runs on the evening to give all fans in attendance a five 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 another chance to take part in the Score-And-Win promotion on Saturday, August 14 when the Tribe takes on the Chiefs at 7:00 p.m. RHP Mike Crotta is expected to get the start for the Tribe, while RHP Andrew Kown 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 6:40 p.m.
Post-game quotes -- C Jason Jaramillo(on his two-run home run in the eighth inning)
“Any time you hit a home run that late in the game it feels really good. I was up there just looking for a pitch and he left one up and fortunately I was able to put a good swing on it.”
(on Chiefs’ SS Danny Espinosa’s attempted steal of home in the fourth)
“It caught us all off-guard. I heard the crowd and I heard our bench yelling and I turned around and saw him coming down (from third). Fortunately, (Indians’ starter Charlie Morton) made a heads up play and gave me a good feed.”
(on Indians’ starter Charlie Morton’s strong start)
“The key for (Indians’ starter Charlie Morton) was that he was throwing all of his pitches for strikes. I can’t say enough about him. He did a great job.”
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