IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (21-19) vs. Louisville Bats (13-26)

Published on May 21, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians welcome the Bats to Victory Field for the first time in 2018. The two teams split a four-game set at Louisville Slugger Field earlier this month.

Location: Victory Field

First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET

Game #41 / Home #20: Indianapolis Indians (21-19) vs. Louisville Bats (13-26)

Probables: RHP J.T. Brubaker (1-0, 2.45) vs. LHP Brandon Finnegan (0-2, 6.75)

Radio: Fox Sports 97.5 / AM 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV / Comcast 90

From the Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians never trailed in the series finale at Durham, rolling to a 9-2 win to avoid a series sweep and earn a .500 road trip. Eric Wood gave the Tribe a 2-0 lead in the second with his fifth homer of the season, a shot to left-center off Chih-Wei Hu. After the teams traded single runs in the fourth, the Indians plated two in the seventh on a two-out single by Christopher Bostick to go up 5-1. The Tribe then touched home four more times in the eighth to blow the game open. Kevin Kramer started the inning with a solo homer -- his fourth of the year -- ahead of an RBI double by Jerrick Suiter and two-run single by Kevin Newman. Alex McRae hurled a season-high seven innings with a season-high eight strikeouts to take home his first career Triple-A win, snapping a career-long four-game skid.

GOOD WOOD: Eric Wood homered in each of the last two games in Durham, moving him into a tie with Jordan Luplow for the team lead with five dingers. The 25-year-old Canadian has now homered in back-to-back games five times in his career. He first accomplished the feat April 12-13, 2013 with Low-A West Virginia @ Asheville. He then did so twice in 2016 with Double-A Altoona (July 9-10 @ Erie, July 15 vs. Harrisburg in both games of a doubleheader) and once with Indy last summer (June 17-18 @ Charlotte).

NEWMAN'S MONTH: Kevin Newman logged another two hits in last night's victory. Named IL Player of the Week on May 14 for the week of May 7-13 in which he hit .519 (14-for-27), the middle infielder posted a .370 clip (10-for-27) with four RBI and four runs scored in six games this past week on the road. Newman has notched a hit in 16 of 18 games in the month of May and raised his batting average nearly 90 points (.234 on April 30, .320 after May 20). He ranks among IL leaders in runs scored (1st, 26), hits (1st, 48), batting (6th, .320) and doubles (T-9th, 11) on the season.

COLD TO HOT: Through his first 28 games of the season, Christopher Bostick was just 6-for-28 (.214) with three doubles and seven RBI with runners in scoring position. Since May 13 (seven games), the Tribe outfielder has gone 7-for-9 (.778) with one double and eight RBI in those same situations. He is now batting .351 (13-for-37) with RISP this year, the best among Tribe players with 15 or more at-bats with RISP.

CHRIS CRUSHING: Bostick went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI again yesterday evening in Durham. He finished the series in North Car-olina with seven hits in 13 at-bats (.538) and six RBI, collecting exactly two ribbies in all three games. His .333 average ranks second in the IL. Bostick has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, including multi-hit performances in six of the last seven. Over his previous 11 contests, the 25-year-old owns a .365 average (19-for-52) with one homer, five doubles, 12 RBI and eight runs scored.

DYNAMIC DUO: Newman and Bostick are two of the hottest hitters in professional baseball this month. Newman is batting .411 (30-for-73) through 18 games in May, as he tries to become just the fourth player since 2005 to post an average at or above .400 (min. 75 ABs) for an entire month. He needs 13 more knocks to match Josh Bell's record 43 hits set in June 2016. Meanwhile, Bostick owns a respectable .342 average (25-for-73) in 18 games this month. Since May 8, Newman and Bostick rank first and second in the IL in hits with 23 and 19, respectively. Bostick has also tallied 12 RBI since May 9, tied for the most in the IL since that date.

THE SCHEDULE SOFTENS: On the heels of facing the IL South's top two teams (Durham and Norfolk), the Tribe's schedule softens consider-ably over the next three weeks. Indy plays its next 14 games and 17 of its next 20 against teams well below .500. The Indians play Louisville (13-26), Charlotte (16-26), Gwinnett (16-25), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (19-22), Rochester (21-16) and Pawtucket (17-22) up through June 10. The winning percentage of their next four opponents is .393 (64-99) and jumps slightly to .427 (102-137) when adding the Rochester/ Pawtucket road trip.

WY-HIT MATHISEN: Tribe infielder Wyatt Mathisen has impressed at both Double- and Triple-A this season, batting a combined .413 (19- for-46) with two home runs, one triple, six doubles, 10 RBI, 14 walks and a 1.287 OPS between Altoona and Indy. In seven games with the Tribe -- all on the road -- Mathisen is batting.450 (9-for-20) with one home run, three doubles and seven RBI. He has clubbed right-handed pitchers this season; with Altoona he hit .421 (8-for-19) with one triple, three doubles, two RBI and eight walks against righties. In Indy he's batted .700 (7-for-10) with three doubles, five RBI and two walks against right-handers. He is 4-for-17 with both of his home runs this season coming against southpaws.

#ROLLTRIBE: The Indians lead the IL in average (.282), doubles (109), triples (13), OBP (.340) and slugging percentage (.435). The Tribe also rank third in fewest strikeouts (293), tied for third in stolen bases (33) and fourth in both runs scored (186 - 4.65 runs per game).

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International League Stories from May 21, 2018


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