Thanks to a stellar outing by starter Brandon Cumpton on Friday night, the Indianapolis Indians are now 11-3 on the season.
Cumpton pitched seven scoreless innings in the Indians 9-2 victory over the Louisville Bats.
He gave up only five hits, all singles, struck out five and walked none. This was also the first game where Cumpton was not only pitching, but also batting – he ended the night with two hits, scoring a run and driving in another.
This was the eighth game in which the Tribe scored runs in the first inning. Gregory Polanco drove in the first run – earning his first of three RBIs on the night – on a double to right field. Brent Morel and Andrew Lambo each drove in a run, to put the Tribe up 3-0 at the end of the first.
The Indians added another run when Chase d’Arnaud came around to score on a Polanco single in the second inning. d’Arnaud tripled in the top of the fourth sending Chris Dickerson and Cumpton to score. Polanco followed with his final RBI driving in d’Arnaud on a groundout and giving the Tribe a 7-0 lead.
With three RBIs against the Bats, Polanco now has 16 on the season and leads the team.
A triple by Michael Martinez scored another Indian run in the top of the fifth. Martinez scored on a groundout by Cumpton later in the inning. That would end the scoring for the Tribe, plating nine runs in five innings.
Duke Welker relieved Cumpton in the eighth and gave up two runs – one on a double, the other a passed ball. Those would be the only runs scored by the Bats on Friday night. Andy Oliver was called from the bullpen to pitch a hitless ninth, walking one and striking out two.
The Indians return home on Saturday night to host the Bats for a three game series. Saturday’s game is the Tribe’s first Signature Saturday and is also Autism Awareness night. First pitch on Saturday is expected to be at 7:05 p.m.
In other Tribe news, pitcher Zack Thornton was included in a trade to the New York Mets from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. So far this season, he has two wins and 1.23 ERA with eight strikeouts and one walk. Thornton joined the organization at the start of the 2013 season after spending the first three seasons of his professional career in the Oakland Athletics organization.
He took to Twitter to thank the Pirates:
I want to thanks the @Pirates organization for everything they have done for me but excited to be with the @Mets#LGM
— Zack Thornton (@Thortythort30) April 19, 2014
[symple_toggle title=”Writer’s Note”] This article was originally published on the Indy Sports Report website. The photo is courtesy of Phil Taylor at Indy Sports Report and is posted along side the article on the website.[/symple_toggle]