IL Omaha Storm Chasers

Cancel Homers Twice in Seventh Straight Win

Published on May 29, 2021 under International League (IL)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


Gabriel Cancel changed the momentum of Friday's game at Werner Park with a go-ahead homer in the fourth inning. He then capped Omaha's seventh consecutive win with another blast in the next frame.

Cancel's two-homer night highlighted a 6-2 victory over Indianapolis by the Storm Chasers. Alcides Escobar went deep, and Kyle Isbel recorded three hits, as Omaha topped the Indians for the fifth time.

Playing in front of a reduced-capacity sellout crowd of 5,048, the teams traded long balls in the early going. Rehabbing top Pittsburgh prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes opened the scoring with a solo shot in the first inning. Escobar answered with one of his own in the third as he continued his hot week at the plate.

The Indians reclaimed the lead with an unearned run in the top of the fourth. But Cancel followed up a leadoff walk to Meibrys Viloria with his first homer - off Indy starter Beau Sulser (2-2) - to give Omaha the lead for good. It sparked a four-run inning for the Chasers, and then he homered again in the fifth.

"The first one was with two strikes, kind of a hanging slider," Cancel said. "And the second one was a slider again - first pitch, hanging too. I just tried to do my best to put the team in a winning position."

The four-run cushion was more than enough for Omaha's pitching staff on a bullpen day. Probable starter Carlos Hernández had been called up by Kansas City so Eddie Butler opened the game. The Chasers used seven pitchers in all. Collin Snider (2-1), the second to the mound, earned the win.

None of Omaha's pitchers faced more than nine batters. Five of them pitched one full inning each.

Isbel singled three times and stole two bases. Escobar, who has raised his average to .324, followed up his home run with an RBI double. He scored twice in the game, once on a delayed double steal of home.

The Chasers will go for their first Triple-A East six-game series sweep in the finale on Sunday afternoon.

"We've got energy every day," Cancel said. "We try to compete every day and do our best to win."

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