Cole & Sanchez Lead Tribe By Hens 4-2

TOLEDO, Ohio --  Starter Gerrit Cole earned his first victory of the season after allowing just one run over 6.1 innings, while catcher Tony Sanchez provided the games's big blow with a three-run fifth inning homer that helped lead the Indianapolis Indians (9-4) over the Toledo Mud Hens (3-10) by the score of 4-2 on Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field.

Making his third start of the season, Tribe starter and Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Gerrit Cole entered Tuesday night still in search of his first victory. The 2011 No. 1 overall draft pick dominated over the first six frames, allowing just a single hit, while striking out five. Despite surrendering a single score in the seventh, Cole (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO) finished the night with by far his best effort of the season, limiting the Mud Hens to just a single score on four hits and four walks over 6.1 innings to earn the win.

While the hard-throwing right hander shut down the Toledo offense, Cole's battery mate, Tony Sanchez, provided key plays on offense and defense to help the Indians earn their fourth straight victory.

Sanchez first made a key defense play to help hold the Mud Hens off the board in the bottom of the third inning. After Toledo CF Quintin Berry drew a one-out walk and stole second, 2B Kevin Russo also reached on a base on balls to put runners on first and second with just one out. With LF Nick Castellanos stepping in the batter's box, the Mud Hens then attempted a double steal, but were thwarted when Sanchez deftly threw behind the lead runner to second base, nailing Russo for the second out of the frame. Cole then followed up the caught stealing by punching out Castellanos to end the threat.

After holding down the Toledo offense, Sanchez then came through with the game's key hit in the top of the fifth. 1B Matt Hague led off the fifth with a single to center, before RF Jerry Sands drew a walk to put two on for Sanchez, who blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field fence. The longball was Sanchez's first on the season and gave the Tribe a 3-0 advantage they would not relinquish.

Toledo did make things interesting, however, plating single scores in the seventh and eighth. DH Danny Dorn sparked the first scoring rally when he laid down a perfect bunt single with one out in seventh, before quickly coming plateward when 3B Danny Worth followed with a double to right. Berry then led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to left, and was brought home one batter later when Castellanos roped a run-scoring single.

Yet the two Toledo tallies would be all they would get on the night as Indianapolis relievers Erik Cordier (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER) and Mike Zagurski (1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) slammed the door on another Tribe victory. With his single frame of work, Cordier picked up the hold in his season debut with the Indians, while making his team high sixth appearance, Zagurski tossed 1.2 scoreless to notch his first save.

Cordier and Zagurski were given some breathing room with an Tribe insurance run in the top of the eighth on some heads up base running by SS Jordy Mercer. After 2B Josh Harrison and Mercer led off the eighth with back-to-back base hits, Harrison was forced out at third on a groundout by LF Brandon Inge. DH Brett Carroll then hit a grounder to third and as the Mud Hens attempted to turn the double play, Mercer just kept on running all the way home, avoiding the tag at the plate to give the Tribe their two-run advantage.

Joining Mercer (2-for-4, 1 R) and Sanchez (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI) with multi-hit efforts on the night for the Indians was Harrison (2-for-3, 1 BB), who has now collected five hits and a walk in his two games played since joining Indianapolis.

The Indians all around effort eventually pinned the loss on Toledo starter Casey Crosby (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO), who dropped to 0-3 on the season with the defeat.

Indianapolis will now look to gain the three-game series sweep over Toledo in the series finale set for Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. The Mud Hens are expected to send LHP Duane Below to the mound, while the Indians have yet to name a starter.

The game will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with Howard Kellman and Will Flemming on the call. The pre-game show begins at 6:10 p.m.

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Post-game quotes -- C Tony Sanchez

(on if the work he has been doing off the field directly affected his success on the night)
"Absolutely. You know Pags (Tribe hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo), and (Jeff) Livesey our hitting coordinator have been putting in so much work and effort with me as far as in the cages and my pre-game routine. When I go into a BP session, it's really up to me to be stubborn and stick to my approach and what I am try to do and trying to accomplish. It's a lot about with my head, my posture, and getting my weight back on that back leg. That really allowed me to drive that cutter out to left-center and I was lucky enough to get enough of it to where it got out."

(on what was different with Gerrit Cole on this night)
"His composure. We used a lot more of his curveball today then his slider and that's what is going to make him a successful pitcher in the Big Leagues. He cannot always rely on a 97 mph fastball because anyone can start squaring that up. Gerrit was a pitcher tonight, he grew up tonight, because he learned that he can't just get by anymore with that fastball. Before the game I said stick with me and I think he only shook me off like one time, maybe three times, it wasn't alot. That really helped us stay on the same page and get in a rhythm and allow him to throw 6.1 innings of great baseball."