IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Columbus Clippers (34-25) vs. Indianapolis Indians (30-27)

June 12, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 1:35 PM ET

GAME #58 / Home #29: Columbus Clippers (34-25) vs. Indianapolis Indians (30-27)

PROBABLES: LHP Kirk McCarty (1-1, 3.10) vs. RHP Osvaldo Bido (1-3, 4.61)

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

TV: MiLB TV / WISH-TV 8

ABOUT LAST NIGHT - THE DEFICIT: The Clippers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and another in the second. Rodolfo Castro plated Indy's first run of the contest with an RBI double to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Heath Hembree issued a two-out walk and surrendered back-to-back doubles by Bobby Bradley and Nolan Jones, stretching Columbus' lead to 5-1.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT - THE COMEBACK: Facing a 5-1 deficit, the Indians offense exploded for nine runs in the third inning to beat Columbus, 12-7. The frame began with a leadoff walk to Josh Bissonette and ended after 13 total batters came to the plate. With runners on the corners, Smith-Njigba doubled to send Bissonette home for the first run of the inning. With Columbus' lead tightened to one run following a single and sacrifice fly by Ji-Hwan Bae and Mason Martin, respectively, Madris smacked the first triple of the inning to send in Bae and tie the game with two outs. Hoy Park roped a single into center field to take the lead, and a pair of walks loaded the bases for the top of the Indians lineup. Cruz and Smith-Njigba then went back-to-back with three baggers to extend Indy's lead, 10-5. Twelve of Indy's 15 hits came in the first four innings of the game.

TRIPLE CITY: Bligh Madris, Oneil Cruz and Canaan Smith-Njigba each tripled in Indy's explosive nine-run third inning, marking the fifth time in Victory Field history that the Indians have hit three triples in a game (4/22/16 at Louisville, 5/28/15 vs. Toledo, 5/25/12 vs. Louisville and 6/3/10 at Gwinnett). It also set a Victory Field record for the most three-baggers in a single inning. Only four other teams in professional baseball have hit three triples in an inning this season, two of which are Pirates affiliates (also: Double-A Altoona, second inning on 6/2 vs. Bowie). Indianapolis is the third team in Triple-A to hit three triples in a game this season (also: Albuquerque and Louisville). The Indians currently lead all International League teams and rank second in Triple-A with 22 triples this season.

BIG INNINGS: Thirteen total batters came to the plate and the Indians scored 10 runs to erase a 5-1 deficit and take a 10-5 lead over Columbus they would not relinquish. It was the team's largest inning by runs scored since plating 10 in the 10th inning on Aug. 19, 2018 at Lehigh Valley.

SPEED DEMONS: With two stolen bases last night, the Indians now have swiped 72 bases in just 57 games this season and have surpassed their 2021 total of 71 stolen bases in 128 games. It is the team's most stolen bases since stealing 111 in 2018 to rank second after stealing a Victory Field era low 69 bases in 2019.

SERIES CLINCHING: The Indians have now won three consecutive games for the first time since 5/22-25 (1) and have the opportunity for their first 5-1 series victory of the season today. They have won three total series this season, two of which have come at Victory Field. In the final game of a six-game series, the Indians are 6-0 with a 5-3 record on Sundays.

BLIGH GUY: Bligh Madris went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple to extend his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 19 games. It was his third game with multiple extra-base hits and his second in as many days after doubling twice on Friday night. He now has 11 doubles and is one of four Indians batters to record double-digit doubles this season (Canaan Smith-Njigba, 14; Mason Martin, 13; Ji-Hwan Bae, 11). Since 5/20 vs. Toledo, the beginning of his on-base streak, he has hit safely in 17 of 18 games with an official at-bat and is hitting .391 (25-for-64) with 13 extra-base hits, a .480 on-base percentage and 1.214 OPS.

CANAAN CONTINUES: With a team-leading three hits, including a double and triple last night, Canaan Smith-Njigba has now reached base safely in 39 of his last 40 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 10 of the last 11 games where he's reached safely. Since 4/22, Smith-Njigba is hitting .298 (42-for-141) with a .418 on-base percentage and .865 OPS. This season, he is hitting .278 (50-for-180) and ranks among league leaders in doubles (T-7th, 15) and walks (9th, 32). Along with leading all Indians batters in both those categories, he is pacing the team with a .387 on-base percentage.

ONEIL ON IT: Oneil Cruz went 2-for-5 last night with a bases-clearing triple and has now hit safely in 13 of the last 14 games where he's reached base since 5/22 vs. Toledo. In that span, Cruz is hitting .333 (19-for-57) with six of his nine homers this season, 12 RBI and a 1.093 OPS. Cruz's hot streak stretches back even further to 5/15, and since then he is hitting .316 (24-for-76) with seven home runs, 11 walks and a 1.043 OPS.

TODAY: Indianapolis will look to finish off a dominant series victory over Columbus today at 1:35 PM ET. The Indians currently lead the Clippers 7-4 in the 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. Osvaldo Bido will take the mound for the second time this week against southpaw Kirk McCarty.

THIS DATE IN 2005: As the Indians struck out a Victory Field era road record 17 times at Rochester, including 13 by right-hander Boof Bonser, the team walked away with a 4-3 win with the help of a dominant bullpen and four-run sixth inning. The top of the sixth scoring started on third baseman Yurendell de Caster's game-tying solo homer to left. Left fielder Nate McLouth plated another run with a line drive double to left to put the Indians up one. Then with the bases loaded and two outs, shortstop Shaun Skrehot gave the Indians insurance with a two-run single. Indy's bullpen held Rochester hitless in three innings of work to secure the comeback win.

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