IL Indianapolis Indians

Balanced Offense Leads Indians Past Storm Chasers

April 9, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


Ji-Hwan Bae reached base safely a game-high four times, Travis Swaggerty and Rodolfo Castro notched two hits apiece, and Oneil Cruz rocketed a 116 mph two-run double to lift the Indians over .500 for the first time this season in a 7-1 win against the Omaha Storm Chasers on Saturday night.

The Indians (3-2) scored all of their runs against southpaw Marcelo Martinez (L, 1-1) over the first four frames. Cruz worked a walk ahead of Castro and Hunter Owen singles, the latter dropping softly into shallow left field to put Indy in front, 1-0. Bligh Madris followed with a run-scoring double, and Cal Mitchell capped the three-run first with a sacrifice fly.

Indianapolis sent another seven batters to the plate in the second inning to extend its lead to 5-0. A Bae walk and Swaggerty single set up Cruz's hard-hit double, a liner that sailed over center fielder Dairon Blanco's head. The runs batted in were the first two of the season by Pittsburgh's No. 1 prospect.

Omaha (2-3) got on the board with two outs in the third inning on Nick Pratto's third home run of the series. Indians left-hander Nathan Kirby - starting in place of Roansy Contreras who was recalled by Pittsburgh - pitched 3.0 innings of one-run ball.

Indy tacked on its final runs in the fourth thanks to a Swaggerty RBI double and Castro run-scoring single.

The top six batters in Indy's lineup - Swaggerty, Cruz, Castro, Owen, Madris and Mitchell - all drove in at least one run, and six of the nine starters recorded at least one hit.

Brad Case (W, 1-0) earned the win in relief of Kirby with 3.0 scoreless innings. He scattered five hits and registered three strikeouts. Martinez, who earned the win in relief for Omaha on Opening Night, suffered the loss after yielding seven earned runs on eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.

The Indians seek the series win tomorrow afternoon with a 1:35 PM first pitch at Victory Field. Right-hander Ronald Bolaños (0-0, 0.00) will toe the rubber for Omaha against Indianapolis right-hander Osvaldo Bido (0-1, 7.71).

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics



International League Stories from April 9, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central