Richmond Braves Rally from Early Deficit Against the Indianapolis Indians for a 6-5 Win

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – RICHMOND, Va. -- Center fielder Omar Infante and first baseman Barbaro Canizares combined to go 4-for-8 with two runs and five RBI as Richmond registered a 6-5 victory over Indianapolis Wednesday evening at The Diamond.

Canizares drove in Infante with an RBI-groundout in the first inning. Infante then drilled a two-run double to right in the third before Canizares smashed a run-scoring single to left.  RHP Jonathon Rouwenhorst, LF Josh Anderson and Infante all scored in the third to knot the affair at four.

The Braves pulled ahead for good with two RBI-groundouts in the seventh. Infante drove in RF Brandon Jones, who lead off the inning with a walk, and Canizares plated Anderson, who reached on a single to left.

The Braves improve to 19-13 on the season and 13-6 at home, while the Indians fall to 17-17 overall and 9-11 on the road. The Tribe is now 4-3 on the current road trip with just one game remaining.

Indianapolis pushed across a run in the eighth and put the tying run at first with no outs in the ninth, but Braves RHP Phil Stockman (1.0 IP, 1 BB) escaped the jam for his second save of the season.

Richmond RHP Vladimir Nunez (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) improved to 3-0 with the win, while Indianapolis RHP Jesse Chavez (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) fell to 1-1 with the loss.

Neither starter -- Indians RHP Adam Bernero (4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) or Braves LHP Jonathon Rouwenhorst (5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO) -- figured in the decision.

The Tribe jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when RF Steve Pearce drove in CF Kevin Thompson (2-for-5, 2 R), who led off the game with a double.  The lead-off two-bagger for Thompson extended his career-best hitting-streak to 13 games and pushed his on-base streak to 24 games.

1B Raul Chavez (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) gave the Indians a 2-1 lead in the second inning with a lead-off homer to left. Indianapolis extended its advantage in the third when C Michel Hernandez plated Thompson and 3B Neil Walker with a single to left.

Hernandez brought the Indians within one run in the eighth with his first long ball of the season -- a solo shot to left.  The Tribe catcher posted his second three-hit game of the series, going 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI.

The teams finish up their four-game series on Thursday at 1 p.m. RHP Bryan Bullington is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Charlie Morton is expected to get the nod for Richmond.

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 12:40 p.m.

Post-game quotes -- C Michel Hernandez

(on his success so far in the Richmond series)
"I am feeling really good at the plate right now. It feels nice to finally hit my first home run in an Indians uniform. I just hope my bat can help the team pull out some victories in our upcoming games."

(on the eight-game road trip coming to an end)
"We still have a chance to wrap up this road trip with a 5-3 record. It has been a good road trip so far. If we continue to swing the bats as we have been lately, hopefully we can pull out a win tomorrow."

Box Score: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2008_05_07_indaaa_ricaaa_1&did=t484&sid=t484

Play-by-Play: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t484&t=g_log&gid=2008_05_07_indaaa_ricaaa_1

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