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Game Information: Columbus Clippers (34-23) vs. Indianapolis Indians (28-27)

June 10, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #56 / Home #27: Columbus Clippers (34-23) vs. Indianapolis Indians (28-27)

PROBABLES: RHP Peyton Battenfield (3-3, 2.82) vs. RHP Cody Bolton (1-1, 2.87)

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

TV: MiLB TV / MyIndy TV-23

ABOUT LAST NIGHT'S WALK-OFF: With one out and the game knotted at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jared Oliva hit a well-placed grounder that snuck inside first base down the right-field line for a double. A groundout by Oneil Cruz then moved Oliva to third base to set up the walk-off opportunity. After Ben Krauth missed the strike zone with his 2-2 pitch, Clippers catcher Bryan Lavastida lobbed his return throw to the mound, and Oliva - with a healthy lead off third - dashed for home. Oliva's head-first slide beat Krauth's throw back to the plate, sending the Indians and 8,780 fans in attendance into a frenzy.

HOW WE GOT THERE: Columbus grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a run-scoring groundout, but the Indians plated four runs in the third to take a 4-1 advantage. After Oliva was beaned to lead off the inning and a walk to Cruz, Smith-Njigba laced a grounder into center field to make it 1-1. Ji-Hwan Bae followed with an opposite-field RBI double ahead of consecutive RBI groundouts by Mason Martin and Rodolfo Castro to cap the four-run frame. The Clippers pulled within one run in the top of the seventh on three walks, a hit batter and sacrifice fly against reliever Cristofer Melendez, but Cruz launched a solo homer in the bottom half to push the margin back to two, 5-3. Columbus' success against Indy's bullpen continued with one run apiece in the eighth and ninth inning to tie the game.

ALL IN: Jared Oliva's walk-off steal of home was the first in Victory Field history. Since 2005, there have been 23 successful steals of home by Indians baserunners, 14 of which have come at Victory Field. The last Indian to swipe home was Will Craig on 4/12/19 vs. Charlotte as part of a double steal with Bryan Reynolds. Since 2005, only four Indians baserunners have stolen home twice: Andrew McCutchen (5/20/08, 8/31/07), Nyjer Morgan (8/15/08, 5/4/07), Nate McLouth (7/19/05, 5/31/05) and Chris Duffy (6/11/05, 6/2/05). As a team, the Indians stole home multiple times in every season from 2005-09, with the most coming in 2005 (six).

ONEIL ON IT: Oneil Cruz launched a solo home run 428 feet onto the berm in right-center field for his second long ball in three games, fourth in his last seven and sixth in his last 12. Cruz has now hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games where he's reached base since 5/22 vs. Toledo. In that span, Cruz is hitting .327 (16-for-49) with six of his nine homers this season, eight RBI and a 1.115 OPS. Cruz's hot streak stretches back even further to 5/15, and since then he is hitting .309 (21-for-68) with seven home runs, 11 walks and a 1.052 OPS.

QUALITY CHECK: Bryse Wilson surrendered just one earned run over 6.0 impressive frames last night, recording his second consecutive quality start in three Triple-A outings. It marked just the third quality start by an Indians pitcher this season (also: Chase De Jong, 4/13 at St. Paul), and he became the first to record back-to-back quality starts since Max Kranick and James Marvel each did so in September 2021. In three starts with the Indians since being optioned by Pittsburgh, Wilson is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA (7er/19.0ip), 16 strikeouts and 0.95 WHIP. He has gone 6.0-plus innings in all three of those starts.

CANAAN CONTINUES: With a game-tying single into center field in the third inning, Canaan Smith-Njigba has now reached base safely in 37 of his last 38 games since beginning a career-high and league-leading 28-game on-base streak on 4/22. After having the 28-gamer snapped on 5/27 at St. Paul, the corner outfielder picked up right where he left off, hitting safely in eight of the last nine games where he's reached safely. Since 4/22, Smith-Njigba is hitting .286 (38-for-133) with a .410 on-base percentage and .816 OPS. This season, he is hitting .267 (46-for-172) and ranks among league leaders in doubles (T-8th, 14) and walks (9th, 31). Along with leading all Indians batters in both those categories, he is pacing the team with a .379 on-base percentage.

BLIGH GUY: Bligh Madris went 2-for-3 with a double last night to extend his hitting streak to seven games and his on-base streak to 17 games. Since 5/20 vs. Toledo, the beginning of his on-base streak, he has hit safely in 15 of 16 games with an official at-bat and is hitting .357 (20-for-56) with nine extra-base hits, a .463 on-base percentage and 1.124 OPS. Madris recorded a team and career-high 26-game on-base streak from 8/26-10/3/21.

BAE ON BASE IN MAY: Today, the Indians announced that Ji-Hwan Bae has been named the May Player of the Month after reaching base safely in every game of the month en route to a career-high 28-game on-base streak. He hit safely in 19 of 24 games played in May, good for a .322 batting average (29-for-90), and showed incredible plate discipline with more walks (18) than strikeouts (13). He ranked among International League leaders for the month in triples (2nd, 3), runs scored (2nd, 25), total hits (T-6th), walks (T-7th), total bases (T-8th, 50), on-base percentage (9th, .427) and OPS (10th, .983). Bae's 25 runs scored are tied for third most in a single month by an Indians player since 2005.

TONIGHT: Indianapolis will look to extend on their series lead tonight at 7:05 PM ET after last night's thrilling walk-off victory. The Indians currently lead the Clippers 5-4 in the current season series, with three of those wins coming in walk-off fashion (4/23, 4/24, 6/9). They faced the Clippers 11 times during the 2021 campaign and won the season series, 6-5, thanks to a 4-2 record at Victory Field that included a doubleheader sweep. Right-hander Cody Bolton will take the mound for the Indians in his eighth start in 12 outings this season. Countering for Columbus is righty Peyton Battenfield.

BOLTON ON THE BUMP: Cody Bolton fanned a season-high seven batters in his last start on 6/2 at Omaha and surrendered just one run - a solo home run - over 5.0 two-hit innings. The earned run was Bolton's first allowed since 5/11, and in his last four games (three starts) he is 1-0 with a 0.59 ERA (1er/15.1ip), 21 strikeouts, 0.91 WHIP and .113 average against (6-for-53). His seven strikeouts last night were his most since fanning eight batters in 6.0 one-run innings on 7/28/19 with Double-A Altoona vs. Richmond. After striking out less than five batters in his first seven outings, Bolton has six-plus strikeouts in three of his last four outings.

THIS DATE IN 1954: Two female second basemen were featured in the Indianapolis Clowns' season-opening game against the Kansas City Monarchs. Connie Morgan played second for the Clowns, and Toni Stone for the Monarchs. Kansas City won the game, 9-8.

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