Indianapolis Indians started off their 10 games in 10 days road trip with two wins, before defeating the Norfolk Tides on Sunday in the 12th inning and then losing the series finale on Monday.
Tribe starter Casey Sadler was looking to extend his career-high win streak from four to five, but the Tides kept the game close answering run for run until the 12th when the Indians walked away with a 5-4 victory.
Here’s how the action played out:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indians | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tides | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Indians first run came on a Tony Sanchez solo home run. Then a two-out, two RBI single by Robert Andino in the fifth put the Tribe ahead. When the Indians were just six outs away from winning, Tides’ second baseman Cord Phelps hit a two run home run and when neither team scored in the ninth fans got free baseball. Mel Rojas scored for the Tribe on a Tides’ throwing error in the tenth, but then they reciprocated when they scored on a throwing error to tie it up. A sacrifice fly by Michael Martinez scored the Tribe’s last run.
Even though Sadler didn’t his fifth win in his streak, he had another quality outing for the Indians – going six innings giving up one run on two hits. Josh Kinney and Tyler Waldron pitched the seventh through ninth innings, combining for two runs on six hits and six strikeouts. Vin Mazzaro earned his second win when he pitched the three innings of extras, giving up one run on three hits.
While the run scoring happened throughout the course of the game on Sunday capping off with the Tribe’s single run in the 12th, both teams combined to score eight runs in the first three innings on Monday.
The first two innings of scoring were identical, two runs for each team in the first, a single run for both teams in the second, but it was the third inning when the Tides scored two more runs that made all the difference. The Indians are headed into their next series with a 5-3 loss.
Chris Dickerson hit his sixth home run of the season in the first with one on and one out. Chase d’Arnaud hit into a ground out to score a run in the second inning and that was that for the Indians’ scoring.
A.J. Morris was on the mound for the Tribe, but only lasted three innings giving up five runs on eight hits before handing the ball over to Jay Jackson. Jackson pitched three innings with only one hit and three strikeouts. Wirfin Obispo closed out the game for the Indians.
The Tribe begins a four-game series against the Durham Bulls on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Nick Kingham will be on the mound and is looking for his second win.