INDIANAPOLIS – Gorkys Hernandez drew a bases-loaded walk from Gwinnett reliever Aaron Kurcz in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Indianapolis Indians a 4-3 win over the Gwinnett Braves Saturday night at Victory Field.
With the score tied at 3-3, Kurcz struck out Brent Morel, but walked Tony Sanchez to put the winning run at first base. Mel Rojas, Jr., delivered a clutch double to left field moving Sanchez to third. Gwinnett opted to intentionally walk Pedro Florimon to load the bases for a possible double play. However, on his eighth pitch to Hernandez, Kurcz missed inside with a 3-2 pitch pushing across Sanchez for the game winner.
The disappointing loss overshadowed a brilliant pitching performance from Gwinnett starter Greg Smith. The lefty pitched four perfect innings, but had to leave the game after the top of the fifth when he fouled a ball off his foot during an at-bat.
The G-Braves (30-31) brought in Alex White from the bullpen to start the fifth in place of Smith, and he pitched a perfect inning in his Gwinnett debut.
In the top of the sixth, the G-Braves got on the scoreboard as Eury Perez led off the inning with a double to right-center off Indians’ starter Clayton Richard. Jose Peraza laid down a bunt and was hit in the helmet by a throw from catcher Sanchez. The miscue plated Perez for a 1-0 lead and moved Peraza to second.Joey Terdoslavich then hit a ground ball to short; Peraza broke for third, and was safe just ahead of the throw by Florimon. With runners on first and second and no outs, Adonis Garcia walked to load the bases. Wil Nieves hit into a 5-2-3 double play moving Terdoslavich to third and Garcia to second. Eric Young, Jr. walked to reload the bases, and Sean Kazmar stroked a single to center field scoring Terdoslavich for a 2-0 lead. Garcia, also trying to score on the hit, was safe at the plate when Sanchez dropped the ball giving Gwinnett a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, with Carlos Fisher pitching for Gwinnett, Jaff Decker hit a two-out solo homer to right to cut the Gwinnett lead to 3-1. Decker’s second blast of the season was the first time an Indianapolis player had reached base in the game.
The G-Braves took the 3-1 lead to the bottom of the eighth, where, with Peter Moylan on the mound and runners on second and third, Steve Lombardozzi delivered a clutch 2-RBI single to left to tie the game at 3-3.
Gwinnett got runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the ninth, but failed to score. The Indians did not fail in their half of the inning.
Kurcz (L, 2-3) went only a third of an inning with one hit, one run, three walks and one strikeout. Smith, in his sixth Gwinnett start, pitched 4.0 perfect innings with five strikeouts. White worked 1.0 inning. Fisher went 2.0 innings with one hit, one run, two walks and one strikeout. Moylan pitched 1.0 inning with two hits, two runs, one walk and one strikeout.
For the Indians (40-24) Richard worked 5.2 innings with eight hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and one strikeout. A.J. Morris went a third of an inning with one walk and one strikeout. Radhames Liz pitched 2.0 innings with one walk and one strikeout. Yhonathan Barrios (W, 1-0) worked 1.0 inning with two hits and one strikeout.
At the plate for Gwinnett, Perez went 3-for-5 with a run, Peraza went 2-for-5 andDaniel Castro went 2-for-3.
Indianapolis was led by Lombardozzi who was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and Decker who was 1-for-1 with the solo homer.
The G-Braves and Indians play the finale of the four-game series Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. Right-hander Cody Martin (1-1, 0.96) will be on the mound for Gwinnett. Indianapolis will start right-hander Wilfred Boscan (3-2, 4.56). Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 1:00 p.m.
