Second Time's the Charm for Kinney, Tribe
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PAWTUCKET, RI -- The Tribe nearly witnessed its 4-1 lead vanish in the final inning, but after the bullpen allowed the tying run to move into scoring position, reliever Josh Kinney induced a game-ending popout to preserve the Indianapolis Indians' (19-9) 4-3 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox (17-13) on Saturday night at McCoy Stadium. With the victory, Indianapolis is assured at least a series split against Pawtucket and remains unbeaten through its first five road series of the season.
In a fashion nearly identical to last night's contest, Saturday's early goings were marked by an evenly-contested pitcher's duel between Indians righty Tyler Waldron and PawSox right-hander Rubby De La Rosa. While both starters blanked the opposition through the first 5.0 frames, Indy's bullpen bent for just one run until the ninth, while Pawtucket's relievers allowed a sac fly to Brent Morel, an RBI single to Michael Martinez and a two-run knock to Chris McGuiness to make the score 4-1 after eight innings.
Things got dicey for the Tribe in the ninth as a two-out single from Dan Butler both pulled the home team within 4-3 while also moving Garin Cecchini into scoring position. With the tying run standing on second, reliever Kinney, who surrendered last night's grand slam, tossed just three pitches before inducing a pop out in foul territory to nail down the save and preserve the win.