IL Indianapolis Indians

Difo Walks off in Indians Debut

Published on June 18, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS - Down to their final strike and facing a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Indianapolis Indians tied the game and went on to walk-off Thursday night's game vs. the Memphis Redbirds in the 11th, 3-2.

Wilmer Difo, in his Indians debut, roped a single into center field to score Hunter Owen as the automatic runner with one out in the top of the 11th inning. With the victory, the Indians are now in the midst of a season-high five-game winning streak.

Memphis (15-24) jumped out on top, 1-0, in the first inning with a leadoff home run off the bat of Kramer Robertson. Anthony Alford then tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning to score T.J. Rivera with two outs.

The game stayed knotted at 1-1 through the end of nine innings. After back-to-back strikeouts by Tyler Bashlor to begin the top of the 10th inning, Evan Mendoza singled on a line drive to right field to give the Redbirds a 2-1 lead.

With the tying runner 90-feet away, Anthony Alford at the top of the order for Indianapolis (21-17) worked a seven-pitch walk to extend the inning. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Jared Oliva sent a sharp ground ball to second baseman Irving Lopez to reach safely on an error. T.J. Rivera scored on the play, tying the game at 2-2.

After a scoreless top of the 11th, Difo recorded his first hit with the Indians to win the game in walk-off fashion. It was the Indians' second walk-off win of the season and first since May 16 vs. Toledo.

Cody Ponce got the start for the Indians and tossed his first quality start of the season with just one run allowed in seven innings. He fanned nine batters in the outing, his most since striking out a career-high 12 batters on July 9, 2016 in High-A.

Kyle Keller (W, 2-0) fanned back-to-back batters with the go-ahead run on third base in the top of the 11th to earn his second win this season. Jesus Cruz (L, 0-2) surrendered the walk-off hit to Difo to score the unearned, winning run for the Indians.

Indianapolis will look to extend its winning streak to six games tomorrow night in a 7:05 PM ET start vs. the Redbirds. RHP Max Kranick (1-1, 3.14) will face off against LHP Matthew Liberatore (1-3, 4.73).

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from June 18, 2021


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