13 WTHR IndianapolisIndians top Louisville 5-3

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (IndyIndians.com) - Catcher Wyatt Toregas and left fielder Ryan Ludwick each drove in two runs while reliever Steven Jackson fired two solid innings of relief and had a key RBI single as well to lead the Indianapolis Indians to a 5-3 win over the Louisville Bats on Sunday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

With the win, Indianapolis improves to 76-67 this season, while the loss drops Louisville's record to 72-71. Despite the defeat, the Bats continue to lead the overall season series 10-9 with the season finale set for Monday afternoon.

Indianapolis struck first with a pair of tallies in the second frame. Indians 2011 MVP Matt Hague led off the inning with a base knock while RF Miles Durham reached via a hit by pitch, before Toregas doubled down the left field line to send in both Hague and Durham for the early 2-0 advantage.

The Bats however, would quickly cut the deficit in half with a score in the bottom half of the frame. C Yasmani Grandal began with a double and moved to third on 3B Mike Costanzo's base knock, where he would score when starting pitcher Daryl Thompson lifted a sacrifice fly to center.

After scoring Louisville's first run of the game, Grandal would tie the contest in the following frame. RF Denis Phipps started the rally with a base hit and took second on LF Daniel Dorn's single, before Grandal drove in Phipps with a run-scoring base knock to right to even the game at 2-2.

The Tribe then grabbed the lead back at 5-2 with a trio of runs in the fifth. CF Gorkys Hernandez started the scoring spurt with a two-bagger to left, before he was plated by Jackson's RBI single to center.

After 2B Jordy Mercer was hit by a pitch and SS Brian Bocock singled to load the bases, Ludwick delivered with a two-run base knock to left to increase the margin to three. Ludwick in three games with the Tribe as part of a Major League rehab assignment has now hit .455 (5-for-11) with three runs, a homer and five RBI.

Louisville subsequently got one of those runs back in the sixth in narrow the Tribe's lead to two. SS Kristopher Negron singled, stole second and then took third on a wild pitch, before he came across when 1B Neftali Soto grounded a run-scoring base knock to center to make it 5-3.

Hernandez (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB) was the lone Indians hitter to collect two or more hits for Indianapolis, while Negron (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB), Phipps (2-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB), Soto (2-for-5, 1 RBI), Grandal (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI) and Costanzo (2-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB) all recorded multi-hit efforts for the Bats. Hague's base hit in the second extended his hitting streak to nine games, while also

Indians starter Aaron Thompson (3.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) did not figure in the final decision after giving up two runs on seven hits in 3.2 frames. RHP Steven Jackson (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) earned the victory to improve to 4-2 on the year after yielding just one run on two hits in two frames for the Indians, while relievers Justin Thomas (1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 SO), Evan Meek (1.0 IP, 1 SO) and Aaron Heilman (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) combined for 3.1 shutout frames.

Thomas received his International League leading 12th hold of the year and Meek picked up his third, while Heilman notched his first save of the season. The Indianapolis bullpen in their last 11 contests has now compiled a 1.61 ERA, allowing nine runs in 50.1 frames of work.

Louisville starter Daryl Thompson (4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 3-4 after giving up five earned runs on six hits in 4.1 innings of work. The bullpen duo of Brandon Hynick (0.2 IP, 1 SO), Clayton Tanner (3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 SO) and Jordan Smith (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) followed Thompson by combining for the last 4.2 scoreless innings.

Indianapolis now finishes their series and 2011 season Monday afternoon against the Bats, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. LHP Jeff Locke is scheduled to take the mound for the Indians, while RHP Chad Reineke is expected to get the start for the Bats.

The contest will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show for the season finale begins at 12:45 p.m.