Tribe Conquers Clippers With 7-0 Shutout
With the win the Indians improve to 60-60 and are .500 for the first time this season and move to 29-32 on the road, while the Clippers drop to 50-69 overall and 26-34 at home with the loss. The win gives Indianapolis the 2-1 advantage in the two teams current series, while the season series is now even at eight games apiece.
After tossing 7.2 scoreless innings against Columbus at Victory Field on August 10, McCutchen (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) continued his brilliance over the Clippers with six shutout frames in Saturday's contest. The right handed hurler entered the game second in the International League in wins and moved to 12-6 on the season after gave up just five hits and struck out five in six scoreless frames for the victory.
The 26-year-old has been brilliant as of late as he has gone at least six innings in each of his last seven starts and has collected a 5-1 record during that span. So far in August McCutchen has gone 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA (3 ER in 20.0 IP) and has struck out an astonishing 19 batters compared to just two walks.
The dominance on the mound continued upon McCutchen's exit as Tribe reliever Jeremy Powell (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) replaced him with three scoreless frames of his own. The right hander earned his second save of the season and of his 17-year professional career after he gave up just two hits in three innings of work.
The Indians' 1-2-3 hitters, LF Chris Barnwell (3-for-5, 2 R), CF Jose Tabata (3-for-5, 2 R, 1 SB) and 2B Pedro Lopez (3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI) all collected three hits to go a combined 9-for-14 (.643) with five runs and three RBI. Barnwell and Tabata each tallied two scores in the game, while Lopez recorded three RBI.
After stranding Barnwell and Lopez on base in the first inning, the Tribe quickly jumped on top of the Clippers with a run in the top of the second. 3B Neil Walker slapped a one-out single through the hole at shortstop before moving to second on a ground out and coming plateward on a single by 1B Robinzon Diaz.
Indianapolis then tallied two more scores in the very next frame as Barnwell and Tabata led off with back-to-back singles before Lopez's sacrifice bunt moved them both into scoring position. Barnwell then scored on an RBI groundout by DH Jeff Clement, which also moved Tabata to third
RF Tagg Bozied then reached first with a two-out base on balls to place runners on the corners. The two baserunners then pulled off a double steal as Bozied broke for second, while Tabata lingered off of third and then broke for home and made it safely on the throw to the plate.
The exciting double steal gave the Indians a 3-0 lead, but their offense was not finished as they added back-to-back two-run innings with a pair of scores in the fifth and sixth. Again the top of the order sparked the rallies as Tabata singled with one-out in fifth and came plateward when Lopez followed with an RBI double.
Lopez then recorded a run of his own as Bozied followed with the second straight double, an RBI two-bagger to left-center field. The back-to-back doubles extended the lead to 5-0 with two more runs to come in the very next inning.
Diaz sparked the sixth inning rally when he reached first on a fielding error by Columbus SS Jesus Merchan. The Tribe would then take advantage of the miscue by stringing together three straight singles.
Again it was the top of the order doing the damage for Indianapolis as Barnwell followed the error with a single and Tabata followed Barnwell with a baseknock as well. With the bases loaded Lopez came up in the clutch again as he collected his second and third RBI of the night with a single that plated Diaz and Barnwell.
To go along with Barnwell, Tabata and Lopez's three-hit games the Indians would also receive multi-hit efforts from Bozied (2-for-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB), Walker (2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B) and Diaz (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI), while no Columbus batter recorded multiple base knocks. The six multi-hit performances is the most the Tribe has had in any single game this year as they also had five multi-hit performances in Friday's blow out victory over Columbus.
After losing to the Indians the last time he matched up against McCutchen on August 10, Clippers' starter Mike Gosling (5.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) was again pinned with the loss. The left hander struck out five, but allowed five earned runs on 10 hits in five innings of work to drop to 7-3 on the season.
Indianapolis will finish their four-game series at Columbus on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. RHP Ty Taubenheim is scheduled to start for the Indians, while RHP Carlos Carrasco is expected to get the nod for the Clippers.
The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 4:45 p.m.
Post-game quotes -- 2B Pedro Lopez
(on his performance after being a late lineup addition)
"I felt good, I was just ready for the opportunity. I wasn't in the lineup and then he (Manager Frank Kremblas) told me hey your in today. So I said ok and I was ready for anything."
(on his approach at the plate)
"I was just trying to take pitches up the middle and if I had to the other way. I just saw the ball and then hit the ball."
(on playing multiple defensive positions with the Indians)
"I've played shortstop all my career. For now I need to play everywhere and anywhere they need me."