The Indianapolis Indians ended May with a 7-3 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, but redeemed themselves to start June off with a 9-7 win.
In a span of 24 hours the Tribe played two games – a 7:05 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1:35 p.m. start on Sunday.
Tribe pitcher Adam Wilk has been struggling on the mound and those struggles continued on Saturday when he gave up six runs on 10 hits in 7.2 innings of work.
Tyler Waldron relieved Wilk only to give up a home run with his first pitch. He completed the game for the Tribe – pitching 1.1. innings.
The Tribe scored a single run in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Gregory Polanco batted in the lead off position for the first time this season. He went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI. Matt Hague and Tony Sanchez had the Tribe’s two other RBI hits.
It was a wacky Sunday game as the RailRiders and Indians combined for 16 runs on 29 hits. The only inning that no runs scored but either team was the ninth.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RailRiders | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 1 | |
| Indians | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | X | 9 | 14 | 1 |
Hague has been showing his offensive prowess as of late – extending his on-base streak to 21 games, a team-high. He got the Tribe on the board with a three-run shot to left.
The Tribe tacked on another run in the second and a Michael Martinez solo home run put the Tribe ahead 5-4 in the fourth.
The RailRiders had impressive offensive performances from Jose Pierla (5-for-6, 3 RBI, home shy of the cycle) and Francisco Arcia (4-for-5, RBI). They scored a run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to go ahead 7-5.
Tribe starter Jeff Locke lasted five innings giving up five runs on 10 hits. Kenn Kasparek and Cody Eppley combined to pitch three innings with Kasparek giving up two runs on four hits. Eppley pitched a scoreless, hitless inning.
In the bottom of the eighth the Tribe took advantage of Scranton’s miscues and scored four runs to take a 9-7 lead. Chris McGuiness, Mel Rojas, Martinez and Polanco all crossed the plate.
Andy Oliver sealed the win for the Tribe while earning his third save of the season.
Vance Worley is on the mound for the last game of the home stand as well as the Scranton series. Game time is 7:05 p.m.