Indians

Final Score Game 13:  Padres 12, Indians 3

Saturday, May 27, 2006, 4:00 p.m., Minor Field

The Alameda AAA Indians lost their rematch with the Padres.  The Indians fell behind early and were unable to catch up in a mid-game rally.

Nick Stevens led off for the Indians against Joseph Riley pitching for the Padres.  Stevens struck out swinging, and Jackson Tracy flied out to center.  Micah Rothenbuhler walked, and then stole second on a mishandled pitch to Isaac Maximov.  Rothenbuhler was stranded on second when Maximov struck out swinging and the Indians took the field for the bottom of the first.

Wyatt Arens took the mound for the Indians against the Padres lead-off batter, Miguel Hidalgo , who took a base on balls.  Jordan Wrobel singled to Maximov at short, who connected with Tracy for the force out on Hidalgo at second.  Joseph Riley doubled with a grounder to right field, scoring Wrobel.  Matthew Forster followed with a double but a good throw from the field got the ball to Rothenbuhler in time to tag Riley out at home for two away.  A third consecutive double, this time by Michael Moler, scored Forster, but the Padres were held to two runs in the inning when Maximov caught St. Martins line drive to short and the side was retired.

The Indians were unable to score in the second.  Riley returned to the mound for the Padres and Trevor Greenley led off for the Indians with a single off a ground ball to right field.  Derek Snediker was called out on strikes, but not before Greenley stole second on a pitch in the dirt.  Another pitch in the dirt to Arens allowed Greenley to steal third, but both Indians were out when Arens fly to second base was caught and Greenley failed to tag up. 

Billy Hommert took over the pitching duties for the Indians in the bottom of the second, facing Kevin Mercado leading off for the Padres.  Mercado hit a pop-up shallow to the infield and beat the throw to first for a single.  Matthew Republicano grounded back to the mound and Hommert made the throw for the force play at second.  Thomas Wei came to the plate and Republicano stole second on a mishandled pitch.  Republicano stole third on another mishandled pitch as the count went full, and then Wei struck out for two away.  Hidalgo took a base on balls to give the Padres runners on first and third, before stealing second on a pitch to Wrobel.  The bases were loaded when Wrobel walked, and then Riley walked, bringing Republicano home.  Forster doubled to right field, scoring Hidalgo and Wrobel, and advancing Riley to third.  A missed pitch to Moler made room for Riley to steal home and Forster to third.  Another missed pitch allowed Forster to steal home and then Moler was hit by a pitch and walked.  St. Martin tripled on a fly to left field and brought Moler home for the Padres sixth and last run of the inning.  Hommert struck Mercado out to retire the side with St. Martin stranded and the Padres up by a score of eight to nothing.

Evan Park led off against Riley, back to pitch the third for the Padres, with a line drive single to center.  Hommert singled on a pop-up, but Park was forced out at second.  Hommert stole second with Casey Thiering at bat, but was stranded there after Thiering walked, when Liam Bergstrom struck out swinging and play moved to the bottom of the inning.

The Indians defense stiffened in the third and the Padres were retired in order.  Stevens took the mound for the Indians and fielded Republicano's grounder, making the throw to Park at first for the force out.  Park caught Wei's fly ball foul for two away and Stevens struck out Hidalgo to close the third inning with the score eight to zero in favor of the Padres.

The top of the fourth saw the Indians at the top of the batting order and Jordan Wrobel pitching for the Padres.  Stevens took a base on balls and the stole second and then third on a missed pick-off throw.  Tracy walked, and the stole second with Rothenbuhler at the plate.  The count went full and then the runners were held when Rothenbuhler's fly to second was caught for one away.  A mishandled pitch to Maximov allowed Stevens to steal home and get the Indians on the scoreboard and Tracy to advance to third.  Maximov doubled on a fly ball to right field scoring Tracy and then advanced to third when a throw to second was mishandled.  Greenley's grounder to first scored Maximov but ended up a sacrifice when the first baseman tagged the bag for the force play.  Snediker flied foul down the third base line and the third baseman made the catch to end the rally.

Evan Park took the mound for the Indians against Wrobel leading off for the Padres in the bottom of the fourth.  A grounder to third was handled by Tracy making the throw to Arens at first and the Indians had one away.  Riley struck out and Forster hit a triple to center.  Moler singled, bringing in Forster, but was stranded when St. Martin grounded to Maximov at second and the force play throw was made to Arens to retire the side.  With four innings played the score was Indians three, Padres nine.

Arens led off the fifth inning for the Indians against Mercado pitching for the Padres.  Arens' short infield ground ball was recovered by Mercado and the throw to first was good for the out.  Park lined to center for a single but Hommert grounded to short and the Padres made good on the double-play opportunity to send the Indians back to the field scoreless in the fifth.

The Padres added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Snediker pitched for the Indians, walking the Padres lead-off man, Mercado.  Republicano grounded to Maximov, who made the force play at second.  Wei hit a grounder through the gap to right center for a single and advanced Republicano to third.  Wei stole second on a wild pitch to Hidalgo before Hidalgo walked to load the bases.  A mishandled pitch allowed Mercado to steal home before Wrobel brought in two more with a double on a grounder to center.  Riley took a base on balls, then Forster dribbled a short grounder and beat the throw to first and the bases were again loaded.  Moler popped up to the mound and Snediker made the catch for two away.  St. Martin grounded to Hommert at short, and he connected with Maximov for the force play at second to retire the Padres and bring up the sixth inning with the Indians ten runs short of a win.

Mercado continued pitching for the Padres in the sixth, with Bergstrom leading off for the Indians.  Bergstrom struck out swinging, and Stevens followed likewise.  Tracy walked, but ended up stranded as Rothenbuhler was called out on strikes and the Indians were unable to get a rally started.

It was a frustrating loss as the Indians split the season series with the Padres, the final score Indians three, Padres twelve.

Game recap written by J. Michael Bergstrom.  All rights reserved.