INDIANAPOLIS - Sean Kazmar Jr. hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning to give the Gwinnett Stripers a 4-3 comeback win over the Indianapolis Indians Friday night at Victory Field. Alex McRae hurled a quality start for Indy in the defeat.
INDIANAPOLIS - Sean Kazmar Jr. hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning to give the Gwinnett Stripers a 4-3 comeback win over the Indianapolis Indians Friday night at Victory Field. Alex McRae hurled a quality start for Indy in the defeat.
Gwinnett (10-16) evened the series behind a pair of two-run frames late in the game. With Indianapolis (13-12) leading 3-0, Carlos Franco cranked a two-run shot off McRae in the seventh, his only blemish over 6.1 innings pitched.
Dovydas Neverauskas (L, 1-1) took over for McRae and stranded two runners before the stretch, but he failed to escape the eighth with the lead intact. Rio Ruiz tied the game with a double and later scored the winning run on Kazmar Jr.'s fly ball to left.
The Indians hung a two-spot in the second on three consecutive two-out hits. Erich Weiss - Thursday night's walk-off hero - singled to left-center and promptly raced around the bases on a Pablo Reyes two-bagger to the wall in left. Christopher Bostick then made it a 2-0 ballgame with a single up the middle.
Kevin Kramer extended the Tribe's lead to three with his third home run of the season to the grass berm in right. The long ball was Indy's first in 14 home games this season.
Luke Jackson (W, 1-1) picked up the win for Gwinnett with two shutout innings in relief, and Josh Ravin (S, 2) rebounded from a blown save Thursday, working around a fielding error in the ninth for his second save.
The Indians and Stripers continue their four-game series on Saturday, May 5 at The Vic, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. Indy will send right-hander Tyler Eppler (3-1, 2.92) to the bump, opposite Gwinnett righty Andres Santiago (1-1, 3.63).
To purchase tickets for any Indians home game, contact the Victory Field Box Office at 317-269-2282 or [email protected]. For more on the Tribe, visit IndyIndians.com.
