The Indians received great contributions from their starting pitching and offense today, but the bullpen nearly ruined it until a heroic showing in the team's final at-bat outlasted rival Columbus. It was a good day for McEffect overall in Indianapolis, as the non-brothers McPherson earned the gold stars for the day. Starter Kyle McPherson was splendid in his third start in AAA and should've earned the win, but a bullpen blowup tied the game going into the bottom of the ninth when Dallas McPherson blasted his second home run of the game to walkoff with an 8-6 triumph. Dallas' bombs were his 15th and 16th of the year and capped a 3-for-5 performance with four RBIs. Kyle meanwhile lowered his ERA in three starts to 0.98 by throwing seven shutout innings and allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out five. The Pirates' big league rotation could be in good shape in the next few years with the promise shown by McPherson, Jeff Locke and Justin Wilson this year. Dallas McPherson wasn't alone as his teammates provided more offensive fireworks. Yamaico Navarro, who started in his first game since his demotion from Pittsburgh, smashed his ninth home run of the season during a 2-for-3, one-walk day, and Brandon Boggs also connected for his ninth homer of the year. Boggs' and Navarro's homers were back-to-back in the first inning as the Indians jumped to an early 5-0 lead after one. Alex Presley went 2-for-5 with his fourth triple. Brock Holt stayed on absolute fire with a 2-for-4 night to hike his average to .406, and his buddy Tony Sanchez joined in the fray with a two-hit night. The bullpen made it interesting after McPherson's scoreless outing, as Duke Welker allowed a run in the eighth and neither Evan Meek or Doug Slaten could finish the win in the ninth. Meek allowed two runs in a third of an inning and Slaten didn't retire a batter and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk. Tim Wood recorded the final two outs but not until Columbus tied the game. That is, until the offensive McPherson came to the plate in the ninth.
AA Altoona | Altoona 3 Richmond 0
Minor league veteran Kris Johnson has bounced between Altoona and Indianapolis this season, but he's done a nice job since rejoining Altoona's rotation and he hurled a solid game against Richmond for his second AA win. Johnson pitched seven innings and didn't allow a run (similar to McPherson) and gave up just three hits and two walks while fanning five. And unlike Indianapolis' bullpen, Altoona's held steady. Tim Alderson pitched a scoreless inning and Victor Black recorded his 10th save by shutting out Richmond in the ninth. Black did walk a batter but also struck out one, so his ERA now stands at 1.76. Oscar Tejeda paced the hitters with a 3-for-4 game, including a double. Rehabbing Gustavo Nunez had a pinch-hit, two-RBI single in the eighth to widen the Curve's lead to three runs. Drew Maggi singled and walked twice, while Adalberto Santos and Charlie Cutler walked twice as well. Tejada and Maggi each stole a base.
A West Virginia | West Virginia 4 Hickory 3
Eric Avila failed to pick up a hit for the first time in 13 games, but the Power still found enough offense elsewhere to knock off Hickory. Speedy Taylor Lewis replaced a resting Alen Hanson in the leadoff spot and went 2-for-3 with his fifth triple of the season and a walk. Lewis also stole his 20th base, and he wasn't even recalled from extended Spring Training until June when the State College season started. Dan Gamache went 2-for-3 with his 37th double and a walk, and Chris Lashmet had two hits and his 14th double. Mike Jefferson had the Pirates affiliates' worst start of the night and still allowed just two earned runs over six innings. He improved his record to 6-7 by giving up seven hits without walking a batter and he finished with five strikeouts. Like the new non-brothers McPherson, old non-brothers Kilcrease (Robbie and Nathan) finished the victory with a combined three shutout innings. The duo gave up just two hits, no walks and fanned five.
A Bradenton | Bradenton 4 Jupiter 1
The Marauders scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning off Pittsburgh native Scott McGough to come back from a late 1-0 deficit to top Jupiter. McGough, who went to Plum High School, allowed three of Bradenton's four runs to score, including one on a double steal when Carlos Mesa stole home while Kawika Emsley-Pai swiped second. Andy Vasquez went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple in the deciding eighth inning. Emsley-Pai and Kirk Singer also notched two hits. Jhonathan Ramos started for the Marauders and lasted six innings and allowed just one run. Ramos, who has shuttled between Bradenton and Altoona's bullpens most of the season, gave up three hits and walked none while striking out three. Quinton Miller threw two shutout innings to earn the win and Doug Salinas picked up his 10th save.
A State College | State College 5 Jamestown 0
On the back of a phenomenal start by Clay Holmes and very timely hitting in the four-run second inning, the Spikes cruised to an easy 5-0 win against the Jammers after a brutal 1-0 loss last night. Holmes lowered his ERA down to 1.99 and notched his fifth win of the season. Walker Gourley’s leadoff two-bagger in the 2nd, his 10th of the season, got the crooked second inning going and was followed by D.J. Crumlich’s 17th double of the season. Crumlich finished his night 2-for-4 with two RBI and is now hitting .287 on the season. He also was rock solid at third base defensively as the left side of the Spikes infield with shortstop Chris Diaz was busy tonight. Catcher Jacob Stallings did struggle at the plate tonight, striking out three times. But one positive for Stallings was he did a great job handling the young righty Holmes on the mound and has an incredible arm and quick release behind the plate. He picked off Michael Vaughn at second base in the seventh with an absolutely perfect missile of a throw. McEffect Minor League Writer Ross Insana attended the State College victory tonight and broke down Holmes' excellent start further in an article you can read here.