Indians get going early, rout Pelicans

Published in Sports on August 1, 2006 2:10 PM

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KINSTON -- The Indians jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and cruised from there as Kinston grabbed a 9-1 victory over Myrtle Beach on Monday night at Grainger Stadium.

It was the second straight game that the K-Tribe has scored five runs in the first frame. Jose Constanza started the game with a walk, followed by a single from Argenis Reyes. Two batters later, it was back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Jordan Brown, Rodney Choy Foo and Stephen Head to put Kinston up 3-0. John Drennen drew a walk with the bases loaded for run No. 4, then Constanza made it 5-0 with an RBI single his second time up in the inning.

Matt Whitney added insurance in the sixth inning with a two-run homer for his eighth round-tripper of the year.

The Indians spread out 11 hits between eight batters in their lineup. Javi Herrera, Brown and Whitney each had two hits.

Michael Finnocchi (1-2) picked up the win out of the bullpen, giving up just one hit in 21/3 innings. Scott Lewis started the game for the K-Tribe, giving up just two hits and no earned runs in his 20th start of the season. Lewis now has a league leading ERA of 1.41. Out of the Kinston bullpen, Mariano Gomez and Kyle Collins helped to keep the Pelicans scoreless in the late innings.

Kelvin Villa (6-5), picked up the loss for the Pelicans, giving up five hits and five earned runs (all in the first inning), in five innings of work.

Kinston sends Kevin Dixon (6-3, 4.66 ERA) to the mound today at 7 p.m. against James Parr (5-6, 4.75) for the Pelicans.