IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (16-19) at St. Paul Saints (20-14)

Published on May 12, 2023 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: CHS Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:37 PM ET

GAME #36 / ROAD #22: Indianapolis Indians (16-19) at St. Paul Saints (20-14)

PROBABLES: RHP Hunter Stratton (0-0, 2.35) vs. LHP Brent Headrick (0-0, 7.11)

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

TV: Bally Live app / MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: A two-run home run by Chavez Young in the top of the ninth inning was not enough for Indianapolis to overcome a four-run seventh inning by St. Paul as the Saints defeated the Indians on Thursday night at CHS Field, 8-7. Down by three in the top of the ninth inning, Young launched his second home run of the season off Josh Winder with no outs to bring the Indians within one run. Three consecutive batters reached base safely with two outs via a single, hit-by-pitch and walk, but the rally fell short for Indy's second loss of the series. Indianapolis got on the board first in the second when Mitchell led off the frame with his fifth double of the season and was brough home on a groundout from Malcom Nuñez. The Saints tied it up in the bottom half of the frame after a fielding error from shortstop Vinny Capra. The Indians bats came alive again in the third. Grant Koch smoked a leadoff solo home run to center to break the tie. Following singles from Capra and Ryan Vilade, Mitchell sent a fly ball of his own to right-center field. the Saints got one back in the bottom half with Trevor Larnach's first home run of the night. St. Paul plated two more runs in the fifth, when J.C. Flowers walked four consecutive batters and Andrew Stevenson singled to make it 5-4. Trevor Larnach then launched his second home run of the night to spark St. Paul's offense in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Saints tacked on three more runs in the frame, courtesy of a double, triple and throwing error.

CAL IT A COMEBACK: Cal Mitchell has been heating up, he has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games. On Thursday night, he went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, a double and scored two runs. In nine games in May, he is hitting .364 (12-for-33) with three home runs, two doubles, eight RBI, .432 on-base percentage, .697 slugging-percentage and 1.129 OPS.

YOUNG MAKES PLAYS: Chavez Young has found his groove against Saints pitching this week at CHS Field, he is 5-for-9 with a home run, triple, five RBI and three walks in the first three games of the series. He is now working on a five-game hitting streak in which he's reached base in 10 of his 20 plate appearances and has three multi-RBI games in during his five-game hitting streak. Along with his hot start at the plate this week, he threw out a Saints runner at the plate to save a run in the first inning of Tuesday night's contest. His stolen base on Tuesday was his ninth of the season, which leads the team, no one else has more than four stolen bases.

SHACKELFORD GETS ON: Aaron Shackelford extended his on-base streak to 13 games with a pair of walks on Thursday. Shackelford's streak is the longest by an Indians batter this season, Endy RodrÌguez is right behind him with an active 12-game on-base streak. The 26-year-old has a .434 on-base percentage - ranks ninth among International League qualifiers - this season and has reached base safely in 25 of 27 games this season. Last week (5/2-7), he led the International League in batting average (.533), on-base percentage (.667), slugging-percentage (1.200) and OPS (1.867). Since April 18, he is hitting .356 (21-for-59) with 10 runs, four doubles, a triple, three home runs, eight RBI, 13 walks, .479 OBP, .610 SLG and 1.089 OPS. He leads the team in walks this season with 20 in 106 plate appearances, the left-handed slugger is well on pace to surpass his career-high 40 walks in 475 plate appearances in 2022.

CAME TO PLAY IN MAY: Nick Gonzales is off to a hot start to May, hitting .368 (7-for-19) with three runs, two doubles and a walk in four games. The 23-year-old is now hitting .275 (25-for-91) this season with two home runs, five doubles, two triples and 10 RBI. Pittsburgh selected him seventh overall in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of New Mexico (Las Cruces) State. He is currently rated Pittsburgh's No. 5 rated prospect by MLB Pipeline.

ANGEL IMPRESSES: Angel Perdomo continued to impress with another scoreless frame on Wednesday night. After allowing three runs without recording an out on April 14 vs. St. Paul, he has strung together some strong outings. In his last eight relief appearances, he owns a 0.93 ERA (1er/9.2ip) with six hits allowed, five walks, 13 strikeouts and 1.14 WHIP. Perdomo was signed by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent on Feb. 9, 2023. He is tied for the third-most games in the International League and has the most relief appearances by an Indians reliever this season (14).

TONIGHT: The Indians and Saints will matchup for the fourth game of their six-game set tonight at 7:37 PM ET at CHS Field. The Indians are 6-3 during their two-week road trip, taking five of six at Toledo and dropping two of three games at St. Paul. The Saints took four of six games in their first meeting at Victory Field from April 11-16. Tonight, right-hander Hunter Stratton (0-0, 2.35) will open for Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.44) and Indianapolis against St. Paul's southpaw Brent Headrick (0-0, 7.11). Headrick last start against Indy came on April 11, he surrendered four runs on seven hits and struck out seven

BIDO ON THE BUMP: Right-hander Osvaldo Bido will make his seventh appearance of the season tonight at St. Paul. Bido is 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA (12er/24.1ip) with 31 strikeouts, 1.19 WHIP and .205 batting average against. His last outing was on May 6 at Toledo, he surrendered only one run on two hits in 5.0 innings with six punchouts, he's allowed only one run in four of his six outings. In 2022, he was a mainstay in the Indians rotation and went 3-8 with a 4.76 ERA (63er/119.0ip) and a team-high 129 strikeouts. The 27-year-old was excellent in the last two months of the season, going 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA (15er/43.2ip) and 54 strikeouts ñ which was the second-most in the International League after Aug. 4 in 10 appearances (nine starts).

THIS DATE IN 2007: With a double vs. Ottawa in a 5-2 win at Victory Field, Rajai Davis began a Victory Field era record 21-game hitting streak that lasted through June 3. The streak tied Eduardo Perez's streak from 1996 for third all-time in Indians history, trailing Frank Sigafoos (38 games, 1933) and Ed Stevens (33 games, 1951). Davis was recalled by Pittsburgh before he could extend his hitting streak and spent the remainder of the season at the major league level.

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International League Stories from May 12, 2023


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