Wings Skunked By Indians
By: Thad Brown
Updated: July 24, 2011
Indianapolis starter Rudy Owens struck out four over seven solid innings of two-hit ball, while relievers Daniel Moskos and Tim Wood each tossed a scoreless inning of relief to lead the Indians to a 3-0 shutout victory over the Rochester Red Wings on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.
With the win, Indianapolis improves their record to 53-50, while the loss drops Rochester to 38-63. The victory gives the Tribe a 2-1 lead in the current series, as well as a 4-3 advantage in the season series, with the final meeting of the year slated for Monday evening.
Owens (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) improved to 8-6 on the year in one best starts after giving up only two hits in his seven scoreless frames. After allowing the first three batters to reach base without a hit, Owens retired the next 14 hitters he would face before Rochester collected their first hit of the contest on an infield single in the sixth.
Moskos (1.0 IP, 1 H) and Wood (1.0 IP) followed Owens by combining to shut down the Rochester offense for the rest of game, giving up just one hit in the final two innings to secure the shutout. Moskos earned his second hold of the season, while Wood notched his team-leading 18th save of the year.
Indianapolis got all the offense they would need with a single tally in the fourth frame. 3B Pedro Alvarez started the scoring rally with a triple to left center, before trotting home on a clutch two-out single from C Jason Jaramillo that gave the Tribe a 1-0 advantage. The three-bagger was Alvarez's seventh of his career and first since September 10, 2010.
Jaramillo then provided an insurance run in the seventh, when he led off the frame with a double and quickly came around to score on a triple to deep center field by CF Gorkys Hernandez. The three-bagger was one of two base knocks on the night for Hernandez, who has now collected a base hit in seven straight games during which time he has posted a .520 average (13-for-25).
A final insurance tally would come across in the eighth inning courtesy of three straight base knocks. All-Star 1B Matt Hague began the stretch with a single and then advanced to second on Alvarez's second base hit of the game, before DH Andy Marte sent Hague home with an RBI single to left.
Hague (2-for-4, 1 R), Alvarez (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB), Jaramillo (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI) and Hernandez (2-for-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI) all accumulated two hits for the Tribe, while no Red Wings batter collected multiple base knocks on the afternoon. With his multi-hit effort Alvarez has now posted a .472 average (17-for-36) with seven runs, three homers and seven RBI over his last 10 games and has reached base safely in all 18 games he has played with the Tribe this season..
Red Wings starter Scott Diamond (6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 4-9 despite giving up just two earned runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings. Rochester right-handers Jeff Manship (0.2 IP) and Cole DeVries (1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER) pitched the final 1.2 frames, combining to give up an earned run on three hits.
Indianapolis now squares off against Rochester on Monday night for the final meeting of the year, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Indians are expected to send RHP Brad Lincoln to the mound, while RHP Kevin Slowey is scheduled to get the nod for the Red Wings.
