The Indianapolis Indians were on the winning side of their series against the Charlotte Knights. After winning the first game of the series 7-5, the Tribe went on to outscore their opponent 26-15 over the next three games.
From the start of Friday night’s game, it was clear it was going to be offensively driven. Here’s what the box score looked like:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indians | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 1 | |
Knights | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
Vance Worley, started the game for the Tribe and only struggled in the second inning when he gave up the Knights’ only runs of the game. Otherwise, he was fairly dominate – going six innings, giving up eight hits, striking out three and walking only one. Jay Jackson earned the win with one inning pitched in relief while Andy Oliver also made an appearance from the bullpen. Josh Wall made his Indians debut and pitched the ninth inning.
Every Tribe batter was in on the scoring action – either scoring a run themselves or batting one in. Gregory Polanco led the Indians offense scoring three runs and driving in three. Robert Andino also crossed the plate three times and Chris McGuiness also had 3 RBIs.
Saturday’s game was much different, especially since it was the Tribe’s only loss of the series. They dropped the game by a score of 1-3. It was more of a pitcher’s duel between the Tribe’s Jake Brigham and the Knights’ Tommy Hanson.
Brigham pitched seven innings and gave up one run in consecutive innings (third, fourth and fifth). He gave up six hits and struck out three before giving the ball to Daniel Schlereth. The Tribe scored their only run in the fourth when McGuiness homered to right field.
Hanson’s line was nearly identical. He also pitched seven innings with three strikeouts. However, he only had one run and four hits compared to Brigham’s three runs and six hits.
The Indians found themselves back on top on Sunday, when they took the series finale 10-6.
The Tribe’s offense was led by Brent Morel who was on the cycle watch – the second player of the season after Polanco’s near cycle in the rain shortened game on May 13 against the Pawtucket Red Sox. Morel fell just a triple shy of the cycle. He hit his home run first, in the second inning, to give the Tribe an early 3-2 lead. Morel next hit was a single in the fourth inning. His double came in the fifth inning. He was the first Tribe player to have three or more runs and five or more RBIs in a game since Brandon Moss in 2010, Morel had three runs and five RBIs.
Matt Hague and Chris Dickerson both came around to score three times. Most of the offensive production came from the bottom of the lineup on Sunday with batters 6-9 (Dickerson, Morel, Nevin Ashley, Michael Martinez and Adalberto Santos) combining to bat in all 10 runs.
Casey Sadler earned his team leading sixth win of the season. He pitched six innings giving up four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Jackson made his second relief appearance in three days – pitching two innings. Wall pitched the ninth inning, giving up two runs on three hits.
The Tribe is back home for a special Dollar Menu Monday, Memorial Day game. Starter Adam Wilk is on the mound for his second special jersey start. The Tribe will wear camouflage jerseys in honor of Memorial Day. They had previously worn special Autism Awareness jerseys in April. Following the game there will be fireworks. The game is expected to start at 6:05 p.m.