In this edition of the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Minute, we will give you a look at how the Indianapolis Indians have fared so far in the current series, give you a game recap and give you a look at what comes next.
Indianapolis Indians, Triple A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates:
First Round – Indianapolis Indians vs Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders – Best of Five Series
Game 1 – On Wednesday, September 9th, The Indians defeated the RailRiders by a score of 7-3. The Indians bats got things started in the bottom of the first. Alen Hanson singled and later stole second. Josh Bell then singled moving Hanson to third. Willy Garcy then singled scoring Hanson. John Bowker would then ground out scoring Bell. Keon Broxton would then walk and steal second. Tony Sanchez would walk to load the bases. Dan Gamache then cleared the bases on his double to left field. Gustavo Nunez singled scoring Gamache. The Indians led 6-0 after one inning. They would add another run in the eighth when Mel Rojas Jr. scored on a Dan Gamache sacrifice fly. The Indians offense scattered eleven hits on the night. Josh Bell, Keon Broxton and Gustavo Nunez each picked up two hits. Alen Hanson, Dan Gamache, John Bowker, Willy Garcia, and Gorkys Hernandez each collected one hit. Indians starting pitcher Wilfredo Boscan picked up the win while going seven innings and allowing just one run on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts. A.J. Morris came on to pitch the eight but would allow two runs on two hits and be lifted for Jeremy Bleich. Bleich would go 0.2 innings and allow just one hit and struck out two. Josh Wall would pitch the final 1.1 innings and get the save.
Game 2 – On Thursday, September 10th, The Indians defeated the RailRiders by a score of 6-1. The story of this night would be Indians starting pitcher Vance Worley. Worley went eight innings while allowing just one run on six hits, one walk and three strikeouts. Frank Herrmann pitched the final inning and struck out one. The offense was led by Gorkys Hernandez and Dan Gamache with two hits each. Steve Lombardozzi, Willy Garcia, Josh Bell, Keon Broxton and Tony Sanchez each added a hit.
Game 3 – On Friday, September 11th, The Indians defeated the RailRiders by a score of 4-2 to complete the series sweep. The Indians trailed by two going into the top of the ninth. Gorkys Hernandez got the Indians on the board when he was hit by a pitch with no outs, Dan Gamache on third, Steve Lombardozzi on second and Alen Hanson on first. Josh Bell would come to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to score Lombardozzi to tie the game at two. Willy Garcia would then single to load the bases for John Bowker. Bowker came through with a single to centerfield scoring Hanson and Hernandez to take a 4-2 lead. Blake Wood would pickup the save while pitching the bottom of the ninth. Wood would allow two hits, a walk and a strikeout. Tyler Glasnow made the start and went five innings and allowed two runs on seven hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. A.J. Morris would pitch the middle three innings and allow three hits and three strikeouts on his way to the win. Alen Hanson led the way with two hits. Willy Garcia, John Bowker, Tony Sanchez and Steve Lombardozzi would each collect hits in the game.
The Indians will now face the Columbus Clippers in the Governors’ Cup finals. The Clippers took the series 3-2 from the Norfolk Tides.
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Governors Cup Finals– Indianapolis Indians vs Columbus Clippers – Best of Five Series
Game 1 – On Tuesday, September 15th, the Indianapolis Indians suffered a loss in Columbus to the Clippers by a score of 6-5. The Indians got on the board first in the third inning when Gorkys Hernandez singled to score Gustavo Nunez. The Clippers would answer in the bottom half of the third inning when Jesus Aguilar singled to score James Ramsey. This would be the only run given up by the Indians starting pitcher, Chris Volstad. In the top of the fourth, Josh Bell singled and later scored on a Dan Gamache single to give the Indians a 2-1 lead. The Indians would extend the lead in the seventh inning. Alen Hanson and Gorkys Hernandez each singled. Steve Lombardozzi reached base on a fielders choice bunt as Hanson was thrown out at third. Hernandez then scored on a Willy Garcia ground out. With Josh Bell at the plate, Lombardozzi scored on a passed ball. Then, Bell reached base on a walk. Bell then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Keon Broxton singled to right field scoring Bell to give the Indians a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, A. J. Morris relieved Volstad on the mound for the Indians. Morris gave up a double to Michael Choice followed by a single to Tyler Holt. Choice would then score on an Erik Gonzalez double. That would be the end of the night for AJ Morris. Josh Wall came on and gave up a two RBI single to Zach Walters. Then Adam Moore double to score Walters and tie the game at five. In the bottom of the eighth, Audy Ciriaco hit the go ahead home run off of Wall to give Columbus the 6-5 lead and eventual win.
Game 2 – On Wednesday, September 16th, the Indianapolis Indians suffered a loss in Columbus to the Clippers by a score of 6-5. The Clippers would get a single from Tyler Holt to start the first inning. Holt would later score on an error by Josh Bell. In the bottom of the second, Michael Choice hit a two run home run for the Clippers off of Indians’ starting pitcher Wilfredo Boscan. In the bottom of the sixth, Adam Moore homered to extend the Clippers lead to four. The Indians would get on the board in the top of the seventh, when Gustavo Nunez was issued a bases loaded walk to score John Bowker. Gorkys Hernandez would single with the bases loaded scoring Keon Broxton but Gustavo Nunez would be thrown out at third to end the rally. In the bottom of the seventh, James Ramsey was hit by a pitch, advanced to second when Choice walked and then scored on a Josh Bell error to give the Clippers a 5-2 lead. In the top of the ninth, Tony Sanchez walked with one out. Dan Gamache singled. Mel Rojas Jr. walked to load the bases. Sanchez would then score on an Alen Hanson sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-3. Gorkys Hernandez walked to load the bases again. Josh Bell walked scoring Dan Gamache to make it 5-4. Willy Garcia then came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded and was robbed of a hit by Tyler Holt.
Game 3 – On Thursday, September 17th, the Indianapolis Indians picked up a win over the Columbus Clippers by a score of 6-5. The Clippers jumped out early when Zach Walters tripled then scored on a sacrifice fly. Yandy Diaz then homered to extend the lead to two after two innings. In the top of the third, Michael Choice homered to stretch the lead to three. Zach Walters would would homer to make it a four run lead. The Indians would answer in the bottom of the fourth when Gorkys Hernandez doubled then scored on a Josh Bell double. Bell would move to third on a Willy Garcia single, then score when John Bowker doubled. Keon Broxton then hit a sacrifice fly to score Garcia as the Indians now trailed by one. In the bottom of the fifth, Tony Sanchez singled, Gustavo Nunez walked and Alen Hanson reached on an error to load the bases. Sanchez and Nunez both scored on a Gorkys Hernandez single. Josh Bell would single to load the bases with no out but the Indians would fail to score. The Indians would continue to lead 5-4 until the top of the eighth. The Clippers would get a double from Zach Walters to complete a cycle for the game. Walters then scored on an Adam Moore single to tie the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Keon Broxton would walk, advance to second on a Dan Gamache sacrifice bunt and advance to third when Tony Sanchez reached on an error. Gustavo Nunez would ground out, scoring Keon Broxton to go ahead 6-5. Blake Wood would face three batters in the ninth to pick up the save. Tyler Glasnow went 6.2 innings, allowed four runs on six hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Jeremy Bleich pitched just a third of an inning in the eighth and picked up the win. The Indians now trail the Clippers 2-1 in the series.
Game 4 – Columbus Clippers at Indianapolis Indians – 9-18-15
Game 5 – Columbus Clippers at Indianapolis Indians – 9-19-15
This has been the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Minute for September 18th. Please make sure to keep an eye out for more Minor League Minute’s in the upcoming days as we keep you up to date on the playoffs!