Indianapolis Indians Trump Norfolk Tides 9-3 - AAA, International League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - NORFOLK, Va. -- Right fielder Steve Pearce and first baseman Adam Boeve each drove in three runs to power Indianapolis to a 9-3 victory over Norfolk Friday night at Harbor Park.

The Tribe collected season highs in both runs and hits (12) en route to their sixth straight win over Norfolk. The Indians improve to 15-14 overall and 7-8 on the road, while the Tides fall to 11-16 on the season and 6-7 at home.

Boeve pushed Indianapolis ahead for good with a two-run double in the third inning, which plated Pearce and 2B Matt Kata. Pearce then blew the game wide open with a three-run long ball in the fourth.

Indianapolis came up big in the clutch as three of its four two-out hits drove in runs. Three different Indians also drove in multiple runs as Pearce (2-for-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Boeve (1-for-3, 3 RBI), and DH Craig Wilson (2-for-5, 2 RBI) accounted for seven of the Tribe’s nine RBI.

Indianapolis also saw four different players score multiple runs. Pearce, CF Andrew McCutchen (1-for-3, 2 R), LF Kevin Thompson (1-for-3, 2 R) and Kata (2-for-3, 2 R) all crossed the plate twice in the win.

McCutchen extended the International League’s longest on-base streak to 24 games with a fourth-inning single, while Thompson extended his on-base streak to 19 games with a first-inning single.

Indianpolis also stole a season high six bases as McCutchen and Thompson each swiped two, while Kata and SS Josh Wilson grabbed one.

Indianapolis RHP T.J. Beam (1.0 IP, 1 H) picked up his first win in his first decision of 2008, while Norfolk LHP Craig Anderson (4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) fell to 1-1 with the loss.

In his first action of the season, Indians starter Adam Bernero picked up a no-decision, going four innings and allowing just one earned run on four hits.

For the second straight night, 3B Mike Constanzo led the Tides offensive attack as he blasted a solo home run in the eighth inning. Norfolk SS Brandon Fahey recorded
ADVERTISEMENT two hits in five at-bats, while 1B Oscar Salazar posted the only other multi-hit performance with a 2-for-3 effort.

The teams continue their four-game series on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. RHP Bryan Bullington is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Jon Leicester is expected to get the nod for Norfolk.

The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley.  The pre-game show begins at 6:55 p.m.





Post-game quotes -- 1B Adam Boeve

(on his two-out double in the third inning)
"It was a long double.  I thought I got enough of it, but the wind held it up.  We had a lot of big hits with two outs tonight and most importantly those hits brought in runs."

(on an amazing defensive play by 2B Jason Bowers in the ninth inning)
"It was a great play. The problem with playing first base is you don’t get to see alot of those plays because you are running to first. It was a great play coming in late in the game and coming up with that defensive effort."

(on the scary play when RHP T.J. Beam got hit in the face by a batted ball)
"I saw the ball come up on him a little bit. It looked like it jumped up the mound. It didn’t look good and we hope that T.J. is OK."

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