Indians stun Challengers by taking doubleheader with 13-10 upset

After Game 1's loss, the Challengers were determined to take the second contest of Saturday's doubleheader against the Lausanne Indians.

But several factors didn't play the way the Challengers imagined or wished for, and in the end, everybody was happy the game ended as it did and nobody got ejected.

Not one close call by the umpires was left uncommented by the Indians. They threw gloves, yelled at the officials, changed players during innings and even at-bats, and even tried to play dirtball by hitting a batter in the head.

The Challengers remained calm and cool and just wanted to get the game over and leave town, because what fans saw that afternoon was a disgrace to the sport of baseball.

It's sad that everytime the Indians show up, something bad must happen. It's either lengthy discussions, unsportsmanlike behavior on the field or even bench-clearing brawls that don't belong.

The game started well for both teams, as the Challengers held leads of 4-2 after three and 7-5 after five innings.

The Indians again used the long ball to score their runs, getting homers by Alexis Ramirez – a two-run shot in the third inning -, and Jose Colon, his second of the day.

Starter Thomas Burger struggled early on as the Indians sent seven batters to the plate in the opening frame.

He recovered by retiring the side 1-2-3 in the second inning, but three runs in the third inning handed the Indians a 5-4 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Thomas Landis hit his second double of the game, Tobias Siegrist followed with an RBI-single, and a throwing error by shortstop Jay Casimiro on Chris Palatinus’ grounder pushed two more runs across the plate for a 7-5 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, things got real ugly. Burger beaned starting pitcher Jack Portaz for the second consecutive time, and Portaz freaked out and dashed towards the mound. He could be restrained by several players, but was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Sascha Doyon.

This started a big argument, and the Indians refused to play on. After a couple of minutes, play resumed without any further ejections, but there was a bad temper.

In the sixth inning, after Burger hit his fifth batter, coach Andy Fleischacker lifted him for reliever Harry Bregy.

Burger finished with six runs given up in 5 1-3 innings, still holding on to the lead. His five hit batters obviously played a role in this whole circus, but Burger is renowned for having games where he loses his control and gets some hbp's. But that doesn't mean he does it on purpose.

The Challengers extended that lead by scoring two more runs in the top of the seventh on an error by second baseman Aris Javier and a balk by Eddy Marte.

That balk happened on the second pitch of Palatinus' at-bat, bringing Thomas Landis home from third. This made catcher Mario Bonilla so mad, that he refused to go on catching, dropping his gear to the ground and walking towards the dugout

Colon had to put on the gear, and play could resume after a couple of minutes, with the Indians still arguing the balk call.

Bregy was given a 9-6 lead in the process, but he couldn't hang on to it.

In the bottom half of the inning, two doubles, two walks, and an error by first baseman Bryan Shemley gave the Indians a 10-9 lead.

Coach Fleischacker himself relieved Bregy, and he was greeted by Ramirez with a bomb over the right field fences, that landed about 450 feet from home plate for only a ground-rule double.

Colon's RBI-single pushed the score to 12-9 after seven long frames.

Fleischacker led off the top of the eighth, and got hit on the helmet by Marte. It came on the second pitch, right after the first pitch sailed behind Fleischacker's head.

Intention or not, it was a stupid thing to do, proving that the Indians need to learn a lot when it comes to playing the game the proper way.

Nevertheless, the Challengers didn't manage to come back, adding just one more run in the top of the ninth on Saentis Zeller's first home of the season.

Game notes
Bregy scored his 200th run in the NLA as he scored on Siegrist's RBI-single in the fifth inning. ...Palatinus extended his hitting streak to a team-leading 13 games by getting a single in his final at-bat. ...On the other hand, Patrick Zöllig is mired in a 0-for-17 slump in his last five games, dropping his batting average to .180.