Indians stay hot; defeat IL-leading Charlotte 3-2
The Indians, who continue to sit atop the International League's West Division, improve to 18-14 overall and 12-6 on the road. The Knights, who still own the best record of any IL team, fall to 24-8 on the season.
Charlotte grabbed the early advantage with a pair of runs in the third. 3B Josh Fields roped a double to right center and scored ahead of DH Ernie Young, who tagged his third homer of the campaign -- a two-run shot to left field.
Indianapolis responded with all the runs it would need in the fourth. LF Ray Sadler and C Carlos Maldonado beat out infield singles before Davis crushed his second roundtripper of the season -- a three-run shot to left field.
Indians RHP Nerio Rodriguez (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) earned the win, improving to 1-1. Knights LHP Heath Phillips (7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) was pinned with the loss, falling to 3-2.
Tribe LHP C.J. Nitkowski (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) worked a scoreless eighth and ninth to pick up his second save of the campaign. The Indianapolis bullpen has dominated since late April, registering a 1.15 ERA in its past 13 affairs (6 ER in 47.0 IP).
Davis finished the contest 3-for-5, while Maldonado turned in a 2-for-4 effort. Fields led the home team, going 2-for-4 on the night.
The win assures Indianapolis of its third consecutive winning road trip. The Indians went 4-3 on their season-opening trip (2-2 at PAW, 2-1 at OTT), 4-1 on their second trip (2-0 at LOU, 1-0 at COL, 1-1 at TOL) and have now gone 4-2 on their third trip (2-1 at DUR, 2-1 at CHR).
The two teams wrap up their four-game series at Knights Stadium Thursday evening at 7:15 p.m. Indianapolis has yet to announce a starter, while LHP Stephen Randolph is expected to get the nod for Charlotte.
The game will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com as Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley have the call. Thursday's pre-game show begins at 6:55 p.m.