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Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (1-1) at Iowa Cubs (1-1)

May 6, 2021 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Principal Park

FIRST PITCH: 8:08 PM ET

GAME #3 / Road #3: Indianapolis Indians (1-1) at Iowa Cubs (1-1)

PROBABLES: RHP Cody Ponce (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Cory Abbott (0-0, 0.00)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: After seven innings of back-and-forth ball that saw the Indians tie the game twice but never lead, an eighth-inning grand slam off the bat of Cubs third baseman Abiatal Avelino buried Indy for its first loss of the season, 8-3. The Indians pitching staff surrendered four home runs in the defeat, two coming off the bat of right fielder Rafael Ortega, and seven of the Cubs eight runs came via the long ball. Travis Swaggerty, Will Craig and Dustin Fowler all drove in runs for Indianapolis, with Fowler hitting his first home run of 2021 to tie the game at three runs apiece in the top of the eighth. Nick Mears took the loss after surrendering three walks, a game-winning RBI single and the grand slam by Avelino.

STRANDED RUNNERS: The Indians offense left runners in scoring position with two outs six times over the course of last night's loss to Iowa and went 2-for-12 as a team with RISP. Following a two-run third inning, the team had three scoring chances over the next four innings with less than two outs and failed to tie the game before Fowler's home run. As a team, the Indians left 10 total runners on base compared to Iowa's nine.

SWAGGERTY'S SPEED: Travis Swaggerty continued to impress at the Triple-A level last night, driving in a game-tying run with a third-inning single. He showed off his speed in his second start in the leadoff position, swiping a career-high tying two bases for the fifth time. In 2019, Swaggerty stole 23 bases in 31 attempts to rank fourth among Pirates minor leaguers.

YOUNG BUCS: Second baseman Connor Kaiser, RHP Beau Sulser, LHP Braeden Ogle and RHP Nick Mears all made their Triple-A debuts last night, with Sulser getting the start for Indianapolis on his 27th birthday and Kaiser jumping from Single-A to Triple-A. Their performances last night are listed below:

RHP Beau Sulser: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

LHP Braeden Ogle: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

RHP Nick Mears: L, 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K

INF Connor Kaiser: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K

FORMER PROSPECTS: Left fielder Dustin Fowler launched his first Indians home run last night to knot the game at 3-3 before the Cubs offensive boost. Fowler spent the entire 2020 season at Oakland's Alternate Training Site before being traded to Pittsburgh in February. The 26-year-old was named as a top 10 prospect in both the Yankees and A's systems from 2016-18, and was rated the No. 88 overall prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2018 campaign. Fowler is joined in the Indians outfield by another former top prospect, Anthony Alford, who was ranked as Toronto's No. 1 prospect and No. 25 overall by Baseball America in 2016.

PONCE ON THE HILL: Cody Ponce is the first returning member of the Indians 2019 roster to make a pitch start so far this season. He, along with Will Craig, Geoff Hartlieb and Cole Tucker, are the only returners out of nine to see official game time with Pittsburgh during the 2020 season. Those four are joined on Indy's roster by returning infielder Kevin Kramer and pitchers Matt Eckelman, James Marvel, Cam Vieaux and Blake Weiman.

OWEN'S DEBUT: After being selected to Pittsburgh's big-league roster for the injured Gregory Polanco on May 4, former Indians utilityman Hunter Owen made his major league debut last night in right field at San Diego. He went 0-for-2, but was hit in the hand by a pitch in his third plate appearance and was later removed. During the Evansville, Ind. native's Victory Field debut in 2019, he was also hit on the hand with a pitch and missed three weeks on the injured list. Prior to his promotion to Indy on June 20, 2019, Owen led the Eastern League with a .295 average, 70 hits, 15 home runs, a .565 slugging percentage, 134 total bases and 45 runs scored.

SIX-GAMERS: Last night marked the Indians' second of six consecutive games at Iowa following a restructuring of the schedule for 2021. Indianapolis will now play 20 six-game series against its opponents, a provision implemented to limit travel and prevent the spread of COVID-19 between multiple teams. All series for the season run Tuesday through Sunday, with no games scheduled for Mondays.

WELCOME TO THE TRIPLE-A EAST: After 22 seasons in the International League, Indianapolis is now a member of the Triple-A East following the reallignment of Minor League Baseball. All 14 International League teams (with the exception of Pawtucket, which moved to Worcester), with the addition of the Iowa Cubs (CHI), Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (MIA), Memphis Redbirds (STL), Nashville Sounds (MIL), Omaha Storm Chasers (KC) and St. Paul Saints (MIN), make up the Triple-A East. The Indians will now face Columbus, Iowa, Louisville, Omaha, St. Paul and Toledo as part of the Midwest division, with inter-division play at Nashville (June 8-13) and vs. Memphis (June 15-20).

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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.

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