[luckymann]

Washington Grays (29-23) @ Indianapolis Arrows (20-32)
Qualys Field – Indianapolis, IN; 3.05 pm
INDI: Jim Kaat (3-2, 4.35)
WASH: Camilo Pascual (4-3, 3.16)

Hi folks, I’m Nik Hill and welcome to today’s Game of the Week—an afternoon game, which makes for a nice change. We’re coming to you live from Qualys Field in Indianapolis to see a clash of two East Division rivals, as the Arrows play host to the Washington Grays.

Wildly differing performances so far from these two sides, with the Grays coming out of the blocks quickly to take a commanding lead in their division, while the Arrows have started sluggishly and find themselves in the cellar. That said, their fortunes have had somewhat of a turnaround of late as exemplified by Indi’s big 18-6 win last night. Even then, however, they are 9 games adrift of the Grays and will need to keep those sorts of performances coming if they want to keep pace with the rest of the division.

Should be a good one again today, perhaps not as high-scoring as last night with two talented pitchers who’ve both had solid seasons to date on the mound. Jim Kaat, who is 3 and 2 with a 4.35 ERA gets the ball for Indi, and he’s got a great arsenal of pitches to use to keep the Washington bats off their game. He’s up against the 4 and 3 Cuban-born flamethrower Camilo Pascual and, as I said, there’s a good chance runs will be hard to come by.

One of the players who’ll be trying to prove that statement wrong is down on the field with our own Juliana Scott. Juliana, this young man is making quite a name for himself already, isn’t he?

Juliana Scott: Indeed he is Nik, I’m with Arrows second-baseman Napoleon Lajoie—Napoleon, did I pronounce your last name correctly?

Napoleon Lajoie: Perfectly, Juliana, but please call me Nap or Larry, only my mother calls me Napoleon these days. Bit of a mouthful for these baseball types.

JS: Very well, Nap. You’re originally from Woonsocket, Rhode Island – I wouldn’t think there are too many other players in this league from the Ocean State are there?

NL: Actually, Gabby Hartnett of the Gothams and I grew up just a few streets away from each other, went to the same grade school and used to play pick-up together as boys.

JS: Well there you go, a real breeding-ground for future Hall of Famers!

NL: Oh my, I think we’re getting well ahead of ourselves there.

JS: Certainly if you can reproduce your form so far over the length of your career you’ll give it a good shake. On that topic, you have started very well, hitting a mite under .300 and leading the club with 37 RBI while the team has really struggled. How do you reconcile the difference when this happens?

NL: Well, Juliana, I’d be speaking falsely if I denied that individual performance isn’t important to me. It’s my job to do well at a personal level. But let me put it this way: I feel much happier when I’ve gone 0-for-5 and we’ve won that if I’ve gone 5-for-5 and we’ve lost.

JS: I understand. A strong win last night and the side has been somewhat better in May than your 9-18 April, do you feel you guys are back on track?

NL: It’s no great surprise we find ourselves where we are in the standings. Our offence has been poor overall, especially if you overlook the big wins like last evening, of which there have been a few. Our starters have been doing their job for the most part, but we hitters simply haven’t been giving them enough runs to play with, and the bullpen has had problems defending the few we have given them. Ergo our record so far. Last night was great and lots of fun to boot, but we need to be performing better day-in, day-out if we are to have any chance in this league.

JS: You have a few raw players who look like they could turn out to be pretty special types – Gehringer, Betts, Speaker to name a few, Justin Verlander in the pitching ranks looks set to dominate for years to come, must be a pretty exciting club to be at despite this year’s problems.

NL: The club has done a great job putting this squad together. I think they were prepared for a few lean years when they did so, in exchange for some really plentiful ones down the track. We know we’ll be a force to be reckoned with a few years hence. In the meantime we’re all just trying to become better ballplayers and do our best for the club, for Sparky, for the fans.

JS: Well we wish you all the best for that, I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from you over the next decade or so, and good luck against the Grays today.

NL: Thank you mademoiselle, you are most kind.

JS: Back to you Nik.

Thanks Juliana and yes, I doubt that’s the last we’ve seen or heard from that young man in these telecasts. The players are lining up on the field for the National Anthem and we’ll be right back with all this afternoon’s action.


TOP 1ST
The Grays start confidently with singles to Rose and Clark, but Betts shows off his much-vaunted defensive prowess with a superb throw to nail Rose at third for the second out and Kaat eventually gets out of the inning without conceding.

BOTTOM 1ST
Just a hit to Beckley for the home side.

TOP 2ND
A two-out hit to Zack Wheat is all.

BOTTOM 2ND
The hosts are the first to put a concerted rally together as Betts singles with one out and Frisch bungles what should have been a DP to end the inning, then Edmonds walks to fill the bags. Goslin crushes a long double to left-center that plates two of the runners and a sac fly by shortstop Ozzie Smith adds a third.
Indianapolis 3, Washington 0

TOP 3RD
Rose gets his second hit of the game and Clark just misses one to end the inning.

BOTTOM 3RD
A leadoff single to Beckley leads to nothing as Cochrane rolls into an inning-ending DP.

TOP 4TH
Kaat gets into all sorts of trouble as he loads the bases with none out and Wheat knocks in two with a single. A passed ball on Cochrane lets the tying run come home and then a two-out RBI double by Frisch puts the visitors ahead.
Washington 4, Indianapolis 3

BOTTOM 4TH
Washington is lucky to escape a bases-loaded jam and maintain their slim lead.

TOP 5TH
Kaat is starting to look overmatched as the Grays tag him for 2 on a Wheat triple and Arrows manager Sparky Anderson has seen enough, putting Bob Lemon in for him. The change can’t stop the Grays extending their lead as a Nolan Arenado sac fly brings Wheat in to score. 11 hits to this point for Washington as their big bats impart their influence.
Washington 7, Indianapolis 3

BOTTOM 5TH
Pascual presses home the advantage with a 1-2-3 inning.

TOP 6TH
It’s beginning to look like the Grays have a bit of revenge for the previous game on their minds as they go further ahead on an RBI single by Yaz.
Washington 8, Indianapolis 3

BOTTOM 6TH
Needing to get back into the game, the home side gets a rally going, loading the bases with one out. A single by The Wiz brings one in and another run scores on an errant thrown by Grays 3B Arenado. An infield hit to Beckley brings one more in and ends Pascual’s game, as Washington skipper Dusty Baker puts southpaw Johan Santana in to face Lajoie. But the Woonsocket Wonder singles yet another run in and suddenly the Arrows have made it a one-run ballgame and, with bases loaded and just one out, look likely to change that. Sure enough, Cochrane dumps a dying quail into left and it is all tied up at 8. The Grays can’t buy an out as Betts then singles to give the home side the lead and a Bancroft sac fly puts them further ahead. Finally, Santana gets Edmonds to ground out to end the inning as the Arrows post a crooked number.
Indianapolis 10, Washington 8

TOP 7TH
Bill Donovan comes into the game for the Arrows and starts confidently enough with two strikeouts. A two-out single by Frankie Frisch seems innocuous enough until Pete Rose takes Donovan deep and the Grays have knotted it up once more. Just the second longball for Charlie Hustle this season, but boy is it a biggie.
Indianapolis 10, Washington 10

BOTTOM 7TH
How will the Indianapolis boys respond? Meekly, as Santana sends them down in order.

TOP 8TH
Donovan regains his composure to get a clean inning.

BOTTOM 8TH
No problems for Santana as the game goes into the 9th still tied.

TOP 9TH
Just a hit for the Grays.

BOTTOM 9TH
Santana does just what he didn’t want and walks Betts to lead it off, prompting another pitching change as David Price enters the fray. He exits it just as quickly as Beauty Bancroft drills a 2-2 fastball into the left-field bleachers to give the Arrows a dramatic walkoff win.

Indianapolis 12, Washington 10 (final).

WP: Bill Donovan (1-6)
LP: Johan Santana (2-2)
POTG: Zach Wheat 3-5 / 3B / 4 RBI.

Man oh man, what an epic comeback win for the home side in yet another scintillating Game of the Week that apparently shows just how much I know about baseball. Zack Wheat was superb for the Grays in a losing cause as both sides’ offences really put on a show. Bill Donovan vultures his first win of the year while Santana takes the loss to fall to 2 and 2. The win narrows the gap between these two sides to eight games and the Arrows will be looking to tighten that up again by completing the series sweep here tomorrow.

It’ll be tough to top this one, that’s for sure, but we’ll be trying to again next week as we head to Comcast Field in Jersey City to see Uncle Robbie’s New Jersey Stallions battle it out with Connie Mack’s Connecticut Colonials. Looking forward to seeing you then, have a great week in the meantime.