After being unable to defeat the Columbus Clippers in a series at home, the Indianapolis Indians closed off the short road trip with their third win of the series. They also pulled two games ahead in the International League West Division standings with their 7-5 victory.
Indians starter and IL All-Star Casey Sadler got off to a rocky start – giving up four runs in the bottom of the first – but settled in nicely and only gave up one run in the next five innings of his outing. He gave up a total of five runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts. He was not the pitcher of record when the Tribe took the lead, instead Vin Mazzaro earned his fourth win of the season, just two days after being the losing pitcher in the Tribe’s only loss in the four-game stretch.
Sadler’s Clippers counterpart was Justin Masterson, who was making a rehab start for the Cleveland Indians organization. He was set to earn the win, giving up only two runs on five hits with six strikeouts, but Indy staged a comeback in the eighth and ninth innings.
Brent Morel scored the Tribe’s first three runs; he was driven in after a walk in the first and a single in the fourth before hitting a home run in the sixth. In the eighth inning, the Tribe strung together singles by Chris McGuiness and Mel Rojas before capitalizing on a Clippers’ fielding error and then adding a single by Robert Andino to score three runs and take a 6-5 lead. The Indians’ seventh and final run came in the ninth on a McGuiness home run. Andy Oliver earned his 12th save of the season after pitching two innings with no hits, four strikeouts and one walk.
It was Chase d’Arnaud though that stole the show by robbing Matt Carson of a home run in the bottom of the third. It was such a good catch that it was ranked No. 1 on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 Plays. It was also a notable night for Indians’ manager Dean Treanor, who earned is 300th win as the Tribe’s manager and is the seventh manager in the organization’s history to do so.
The Tribe returns home to play the Charlotte Knights for four games starting at 7:05 p.m. on Monday night with Jay Jackson expected to be on the mound for the Tribe.
Indians’ Player of the Game:
Chase d’Arnaud
It’s not every day that you are featured as the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays. This catch is now in the same category as Jadeveon Clowney’s hit against the Michigan Wolverines in the Outback Bowl. Congratulations to Chase and the Indianapolis Indians.
Final Box Score:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indians | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 0 | |
| Clippers | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
Winning Pitcher: Mazzaro (4-3, 2.37)
Losing Pitcher: J.C. Ramirez (1-2, 3.52)
Save: Oliver (12)