Brault's Arm, Wood's Pop Power Indians Past Pigs

Southpaw throws seven shutout, Wood plates pair in 5-0 win

Steven Brault tossed a seven-inning, five-hit game on the mound to lead the Indians to a win over the IronPigs. (Photo by Adam Pintar)

By Cheyne Reiter

June 1, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS -Steven Brault racked up eight strikeouts over seven shutout frames, and Eric Wood doubled, tripled and drove in two runs to carry the Indianapolis Indians to a 5-0 shutout over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Thursday night at Victory Field. Brault lowered his ERA to 2.20, the second-lowest mark in

INDIANAPOLIS -Steven Brault racked up eight strikeouts over seven shutout frames, and Eric Wood doubled, tripled and drove in two runs to carry the Indianapolis Indians to a 5-0 shutout over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Thursday night at Victory Field. Brault lowered his ERA to 2.20, the second-lowest mark in the International League.

Indianapolis (29-23) took two of three against Minor League Baseball's best team record-wise to earn a 3-3 regular season split against the IronPigs, and did so by dominating in the series finale.
Brault (3-3) was locked in from the get-go and pitched effectively with runners on base. He allowed a leadoff single to start the contest, only to strike out the next two batters before picking off Indianapolis native Cameron Perkins to end the frame.
The 25-year-old worked around two singles in the third and doubles in the fourth and seventh. He finished his night with a punchout of Pedro Florimon, stranding Hector Gomez at second base.
While Brault was cruising through the first five innings, Indy's offense struggled against Lehigh Valley (36-17) lefties Cesar Ramos and Adam Morgan, recording just two singles along the way.
The IronPigs summoned a third left-hander for the sixth - Hoby Milner (0-1) - and the Indians finally broke through. The Tribe sent nine batters to the plate during a four-run sixth, the big blows coming on back-to-back, two-out, two-run doubles by Wood and Barrett Barnes.
Erich Weiss tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Meadows in the seventh to cap the scoring. Dan Runzler and Dovydas Neverauskas worked scoreless frames to complete the shutout.
The Indians continue their homestand Friday night at Victory Field as the Gwinnett Braves come to the Circle City. The Tribe will send right-hander Jameson Taillon to the mound for a rehab start, opposite Braves southpaw Sean Newcomb (3-2, 2.96). First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.