Pitchers & Paulino Punchout Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Recently promoted catcher Carlos Paulino nearly single-handedly led the Tribe to a win in his Triple-A debut, going 3-for-5 and driving in the eventual game-winning run in the top of the 11th to send the Indianapolis Indians (79-61) to a 3-2 extra-innings victory over the Toledo Mud Hens (59-81) on Thursday night at Fifth Third Field. In the triumph, the Tribe's pitching staff combined for a season-high 18 strikeouts, just two shy of the Victory Field Era record and the most since Ian Snell fanned 17 in an 18-K effort on June 28, 2009 vs. Toledo.

With the score knotted 2-2 in the 11th inning, the Indians decided to follow the same gameplan from Wednesday night which led to a 1-0 10th-inning win in Toledo. Indianapolis swapped last night's hero, Darren Ford, with Thursday's eventual game-winner RF Brett Carroll, who mimicked yesterday's playbook by opening the final inning with a leadoff walk.

Carroll then moved into scoring position courtesy of a sac bunt from 2B Ivan DeJesus, before the newly promoted Paulino capped off his storybook Triple-A debut with his team-leading third hit of the night.

Following a quick strikeout from pinch hitter Robert Andino, the 23-year-old Paulino fell behind 1-2 in the count, but waited just one more pitch to turn the fourth offering of the at-bat into an RBI single up the middle that scored Carroll and gave the Indians its first lead of the night at 3-2.

The Tribe then gave then ball to flamethrowing right-hander Erik Cordier (SV, 1.0 IP, 2 SO) to, much like Duke Welker last night, stick to the aforementioned gameplan and slam the door on the Mud Hens. Cordier rightfully answered the call by racking up the final two of the Indians 18 total strikeouts, as he retired the side in order to close out Indianapolis' 3-2 win.

Toledo's scoring existed only in a brief flash on Thursday night, when 2B Hernan Perez drew a leadoff free pass in the first inning and being immediately picked up by a two-run blast from RF Ben Guez that put the Mud Hens out front 2-0. However, the lone spark of offense was quickly extinguished through the remainder of the game as starter LHP Andy Oliver (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO) sent the next three batters back to the dugout, including fanning top prospect LF Nick Castellanos, to set the stage for the evening's strikeout-fan fare.

Oliver then collected four of his next six outs with a punchout during the second and third inning, racking up five whiffs through the first three frames alone. In the meantime, his offense erased the early deficit in their half of the third inning with Paulino knocking a one-out single in front of a walk to CF Alex Presley, before DH Travis Snider and 1B Matt Hague each slapped RBI base hits to even the score 2-2.

Once off the hook for as the pitcher of record, Indianapolis' southpaw gave way to RHP Brooks Brown (2.0 IP, 2 SO), who punched out two more Mud Hens through his 2.0 perfect frames to bring the Tribe's strikeout count to 10 through 7.0 innings of action. 

Still, it was just the beginning for the Indians as RHP Ryan Reid (W, 3.0 IP, BB, 6 SO) then slammed his foot on the pedal to mow down six Toledo batters with just one walk through his 3.0 nearly perfect innings. Reid fanned two of three hitters in each frame on the mound to extend the whiff count to 16 through the 10th, while also allowing just one base runner through his dominant, winning effort.

After Paulino's late heroics in the 11th, Cordier chipped in his two strikeouts on the evening to put the exclamation mark on Indianapolis' season-high 18 strikeout effort in the team's 3-2 victory. 

With the win, the Indians "improved" upon some rather gaudy numbers for the 2013 campaign, including a 28-20 record in the 48th contest decided by one run, 17-7 in the 24th extra-innings game of the year and perhaps the most impressive of all, earning their fifth straight win on the road.

For Toledo, reliever RHP Evan Reed (L, 2.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 SO) took the loss after surrendering the 11th-inning RBI single to Paulino and the Tribe.

Indianapolis will now return home for a pair of contests against Louisville beginning Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Victory Field. The Bats are scheduled to send RHP Tim Crabbe (0-1, 1.23 ERA) to the mound while the Tribe has not yet named its starter. 

The contest will be televised on HTSN, Hometown Sports and News, available via cable or over-the-air on digital channel 6.2. The game will also be carried on 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 6:45 p.m.

Indianapolis Indians playoff tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at IndyIndians.com, through the Indians' single-game ticket hotline at 317-269-2282 or by visiting the Victory Field Box Office.

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Post-Game Quotes -- C, Carlos Paulino

(on his debut)
"It's amazing, coming from Double-A and having never been in Triple-A before. I was trying to enjoy the game and I think I did very good."

"I've been working hard to get better every day and now that I'm here I need to keep working to get even better."

(On thought process in last at-bat)
"Just go out there and relax and go out and play my game. I just tried to not do too much."