BUFFALO, N.Y. --  Indianapolis Indians’ shortstop Luis Cruz picked up where he left off Saturday with a two run double that gave right hander Ty Taubenheim all the support he needed after he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings for the Tribe’s 2-0 win over the Buffalo Bisons Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Field.

With the win the Indians improve to 26-30 overall and 14-13 on the road, while the loss drops the Bisons to 16-38 on the season and 10-24 at home.  The victory gives Indianapolis a 2-0 series lead in their first meeting with Buffalo this season.

The Tribe's starting pitcher Taubenheim (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) dominated early as he allowed only three base runners and struck out two in 5.2 scoreless innings.  The tall righty continued the recent success of the starting rotation as the Indians’starting pitchers have only given up two runs (0.66 ERA) in their last 27.2 innings (four starts).

Taubenheim didn’t need much run support to collect his third win of the season as the Tribe did all their scoring in one inning and on one hit.  The starting pitcher helped himself as he led off the third inning with a walk and then moved into scoring position on a bunt single by 2B Brian Bixler.

With no outs and runners on first and second, Cruz delivered with a two-run double to left-center field to bring Taubenheim and Bixler plateward and give the Tribe a 2-0 lead.  The double was the first of two hits for Cruz (2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB) who recorded his second straight multi-hit and multi-rbi performance, while Bixler (2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R) also collected a double in the ninth for multiple hits as well.

The versatile Cruz came into the Buffalo series hitless in his previous four games, but has broken out of the slump as he is now 4-for-8 with two runs, two doubles, a home run and six RBI in the Indians two wins over the Bisons, where as Bixler is currently riding the Tribe’s longest hitting streak of six consecutive games.

The two run sixth would be enough to keep Bisons’ starter Jonathon Niese (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) winless as the right hander allowed just two runs on six hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work.  Niese’s lack of run support on Sunday dropped him to 0-6 so far in the 2009 season.

The Indians didn’t need any further insurance after their two-run inning as right handers Mike Koplove (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER), Juan Mateo (2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER) and Chris Bootcheck (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO) continued the impressive performance on the mound as they combined to toss 3.1 scoreless innings in relief of Taubenheim.

In his first outing as a member of the Tribe, Koplove earned a hold as he faced one batter and recorded an out, while Mateo threw two shutout innings for his second hold of the season.

The Bisons did manage just as many hits as the Tribe (seven), but were only able to create two real scoring opportunities. Buffalo’s first scoring chance came in the seventh after a lead off single by RF Willy Mo Pena and a one-out single by C Rene Rivera gave them runners on first and third. 

However, Mateo escaped the threat as he got Bisons' 2B Jonathan Malo to ground into an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.  Indianapolis' defense came into the game tied second in the International League with 55 double plays and have now recorded 13 double plays in their last 10 contests.

Buffalo also managed to place runners on first and third with one-out in the eighth, but squandered the opportunity and were shut down for no runs for the second consecutive frame.

SS Luis Rivera led the inning off with a double and made it to third after CF Cory Sullivan’s one-out single gave the Bisons’ another chance to put a run on the board.

Yet again Mateo rose to the occasion as he coaxed LF Jesus Feliciano into a 5-4 fielder’s choice holding Luis Rivera at third with two-outs, which was then followed by an inning-ending flyball putout by Mateo off the bat of RF Matt Watson.

Bootcheck then replaced Mateo in the ninth and recorded two straight outs before C Rene Rivera (2-for-4, 1 2B) collected the Bisons’ only multi-hit game with his second base knock.  Rivera was then thrown out on a fielder’s choice to end the game and give Bootcheck his team leading eighth save of the season.

Indianapolis continues their four-game series with Buffalo on Monday at 10:35 a.m. RHP Daniel McCutchen is scheduled to start for Indianapolis, while RHP Nelson Figueroa is expected to get the nod for the Bisons.

The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM and www.IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 10:15 a.m.

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Post-game quotes - RHP Ty Taubenheim

(on his approach to Sunday’s start)
“We started early just attacking the zone.  We tried to just give them pitches to hit so they could put balls in play and we could make plays.”

(on catching a line drive comebacker to the mound)
“I didn’t even really move my glove.  It was more like one of those Sandlot moments where I just stuck my glove out and came up with the ball.”

(on his approach with the 2-0 lead)
“It was still only two runs and even if they (Buffalo) have been struggling they still have enough hitters to put something together.  So I just tried to pitch and focus as best I could and tried to get some outs.”

(on running the bases and then going back out and pitching)
“I wouldn’t say it’s tough, but it isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. I mean if I get a hit every once in a while then I like to hit.  For the most part I like just going from the mound to the dugout and the dugout back to the mound.  But you just have to roll with it and do the best you can .”

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