INDIANAPOLIS -Barrett Barnes drove in Austin Meadows with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th to send the Indianapolis Indians to a 3-2, walk-off win Sunday afternoon at Victory Field. The Indians have won eight consecutive games, their longest streak since an eight-gamer from June 27-July 4, 2012.
INDIANAPOLIS -Barrett Barnes drove in Austin Meadows with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th to send the Indianapolis Indians to a 3-2, walk-off win Sunday afternoon at Victory Field. The Indians have won eight consecutive games, their longest streak since an eight-gamer from June 27-July 4, 2012.
Indianapolis (24-18) continued its dominance in the month of May with its second walk-off winner to cap a homestand. A stellar performance from left-hander Steven Brault helped get them there.
Provided a 1-0 lead after two, thanks to Eric Wood's sixth home run of the season, the 25-year-old Brault sailed through seven innings, allowing just three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
A first-and-third one-out jam in the fifth marked the only time where Toledo (20-22) had a runner in scoring position with Brault on the mound. He escaped the trouble by inducing a shallow flyout to right and a routine groundout to second.
With Brault removed after seven, the Mud Hens' offense collected themselves against Dovydas Neverauskas, scoring two times on three hits in the eighth. JaCoby Jones knotted the game at one by drilling a full-count offering from Neverauskas into left field for a run-scoring single, and he then race home for the go-ahead run on a double by Argenis Diaz into the right-field corner.
Jason Rogers - already with three of his five home runs this season coming against Toledo - leveled the score with a line-drive blast that snuck over the left-field wall to make it 2-2.
Edgar Santana extended his scoreless streak to 21.2 frames, albeit some tense pitches in the 10th. Brendan Ryan doubled to start extras and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt den Dekker. Santana maintained his form, striking out Jones and Diaz to keep the game tied at two.
Cody Dickson (4-2) pitched a perfect 11th to earn his team-high fourth victory. Southpaw Mike Zagurski (0-2) suffered the loss as Toledo's losing streak reached five games.
On May 1, the Indians sat five games back of Toledo and in last place of the International League West Division at 7-15. Twenty days later, the Tribe own a four-game lead in the division behind a 17-3 record in the second month of the season.
Following a league-wide day off on Monday, the Indians open a seven-game road trip with Game 1 of a three-game set at Lehigh Valley. The Indians will send right-hander Nick Kingham (1-0, 3.18) to the mound, opposite IronPigs right-hander Nick Pivetta (3-0, 0.95). First pitch on Tuesday night is set for 7:05 p.m., and the broadcast can be heard on Fox Sports 97.5 and AM 1260.
