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8.18.23 Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (54-61, 21-20) at St. Paul Saints (67-49, 24-18)

August 18, 2023 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: CHS Field

FIRST PITCH: 8:07 PM ET

GAME #116 / ROAD #60: Indianapolis Indians (54-61, 21-20) at St. Paul Saints (67-49, 24-18)

PROBABLES: RHP Luis Ortiz (7-5, 5.14) vs. RHP Joe Ryan (ML Rehab)

RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / Fox Sports 1260 / iHeart app

TV: Bally Live app / MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: An RBI double from right fielder Canaan Smith-Njigba was the only offense the Indianapolis Indians mustered in a 4-1 loss to the St. Paul Saints on Thursday night at CHS Field, snapping a four-game winning streak. The Saints wasted no time jumping on Indians starter Cam Alldred. Alldred walked St. Paul two-hitter Brooks Lee, then allowed a single to third baseman Anthony Prato and an RBI double to first baseman Kyle Garlick to open the scoring in the bottom of the first. Lee ripped a ground ball that snuck just inside the third base line an inning later, driving in two more. In the fifth, Prato finished the St. Paul effort by belting a solo home run to straight-away center field to lead off the inning. The Indians were held scoreless through the first seven innings by the Saints bullpen trio of opener Blayne Enlow, middle-man Patrick Murphy and right-hander Ronny Henriquez. After Indians catcher Grant Koch walked against two-way player Andrew Bechtold, Smith-Njigba drilled a fly ball to the warning track in left-center to plate Koch. After the double, St. Paul left-hander Kody Funderburk entered and retired the four Indianapolis hitters he faced.

NICOLAS TO THE PEN: Kyle Nicolas has found a role in the Indians bullpen since transitioning from his starting role. He tossed a perfect seventh inning on Thursday night with a pair of strikeouts. The 24-year-old is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (3er/9.0ip) with five hits allowed, four walks, 11 strikeouts and .161 batting average against in five relief outings this month. Below are his splits between his time as a starter and reliever.

Starter (5G): 0-2, 10.59 ERA, 17.0 IP, 24 H, 20 ER, 16 BB, 21 K, 2.35 WHIP, .333 AVG Reliever (8G): 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 13 H, 9 ER, 7 BB, 23 K, 1.33 WHIP, .228 AVG

TRIO OF RELIEF: Cody Bolton, Kyle Nicolas and Wil Crowe combined for 3.2 one-hit, shutout innings after Cam Alldred exited with one out in the fifth frame. The trio combined to strike out five batters compared to just one walk and a hit. Indy's bullpen has been steady through the first half of this week's series, posting a 2.98 ERA (4er/12.1ip) and allowing just six hits.

JONES STRIKEOUTS: Jared Jones leads the International League in strikeouts (63) since his promotion to Indianapolis from Double-A Altoona on June 20. Wednesday night, the right-hander punched out a season-high nine batters, his most since fanning nine on June 26, 2022, with High-A Greensboro vs. Ashland. Jones is currently rated Pittsburgh's No. 5 prospect and the No. 100 MiLB prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Jones has fanned six or more batters in seven of his last eight starts.

UN-BAE-LIEVABLE: Ji Hwan Bae has reached bases in seven of 11 plate appearances through the first two games this week. He showed off his elite speed after lining a double into left field and advancing home after an errant throw from left fielder Giberto Celestino to earn a little league home run. On Tuesday night, he reached base in four of his six plate appearances with a pair of singles, a double and walk. Bae has hits in each of his last four games, hitting .438 (7-for-16) with three runs scored, two doubles and a pair of walks. The 24-year-old was placed on the 10-day IL on July 2 with a left ankle sprain.

ANOTHER ZERO FOR STRATTON: Hunter Stratton tossed his sixth consecutive scoreless outing Wednesday night while earning his fourth save of the season. He sent the Saints down in order, not recording a strikeout for just the second time in his last 16 outings. He has held opponents without a hit in five of six appearances. His scoreless streak is his longest since posting 8.2 scoreless frames from 8/12-9/1/21 with Indianapolis. Since July 18, he is 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA (2er/13.2ip), seven hits allowed, 18 strikeouts and 0.95 WHIP.

SLUGGING FOR EXTRAS: Canaan Smith-Njigba's RBI double, scoring Indy's lone run on Thursday night, extended the team's 32-game streak with an extra-base hit, which is tied with Memphis for the longest active streak in the International League. Since July 7, the Indians have hit 54 doubles, six triples and 41 home runs for a total of 101 XBH's.

TONIGHT: The Indians and Saints continue their six-game set on Friday at 8:07 PM ET. Indy was victorious in the first contests this week before St. Paul's Thursday victory snapped Indy's four-game winning streak. This week is Indy's third and final matchup with St. Paul. The team's first met at Victory Field from April 11-16 with St. Paul winning the series, 4-2. In their first meeting at CHS Field from May 9-14, the teams split the six-game series. The Saints have a slight edge in the season series, winners in eight of 15 games, with three games remaining. Tonight, RHP Luis Ortiz (7-5, 5.14) will take the mound against major league rehabber Joe Ryan, who begins his rehab assignment with St. Paul. Ryan has never faced Indianapolis.

FLAMETHROWER: Luis Ortiz takes the hill tonight for his 12th start of the season with Indianapolis. Ortiz has been excellent with Indy as of late, earning wins in each of his last two starts. The hard-throwing right-hander's last outing came on Aug. 12 vs. Nashville, he posted 5.0 one-run innings with three punchouts. Ortiz made his only career start against St. Paul on April 12 at Victory Field, taking the loss with 4.0 three-run innings on three hits, two walks and six strikeouts. In 12 total outings this season, Ortiz is 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA (24er/52.0ip) and 48 strikeouts.

THIS DATE IN 2019: Facing a five-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth vs. Lehigh Valley, free bases keyed a comeback win for the Indians. The inning opened with a Christian Kelley strikeout but was followed by four consecutive walks to keep the bases loaded for Ke'Bryan Hayes, who was 0-for-4 on the day. A wild pitch scored Hunter Owen to bring the Indians within three runs, and Hayes then crushed a 2-2 slider into the left field lawn to tie the game. Kelley went on to hit a walk-off single in the 10th as the Indians won 8-7 in one of the more dramatic comeback victories in recent Indians history.

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