IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (23-19) at Louisville Bats (15-27)

June 23, 2021 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:00 PM ET

GAME #43 / Road #25: Indianapolis Indians (23-19) at Louisville Bats (15-27)

PROBABLES: RHP Cody Ponce (0-2, 5.46) vs. RHP Hunter Greene (0-1, 9.00)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians overcame a 5-0 deficit to send the game to extras at Louisville last night before losing on a walk-off grand slam by Michael De Leon, 9-5, in the 10th inning. The Bats jumped on top early with three runs in the first inning off Indians starter Beau Sulser. TJ Friedl hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and came around to score again in the sixth with errors by Joe Hudson and Anthony Alford on a stolen base attempt. The Indians got on the board in the seventh inning when Hunter Owen hit his fifth home run of the season to cut Louisville's lead to 5-2. Alford doubled to lead off the eighth inning and was driven in by a triple off the bat of Kevin Kramer. Craig followed with a single to score Kramer, and with two outs Wilmer Difo raced in to score the tying run on a passed ball. In extras, the Indians stranded the bases loaded in the top of the 10th to give Louisville the chance for the walk-off.

WALK-OFF GRAND SLAMS: After last night's 10th inning blast by Michael De Leon, the last two walk-off grand slams surrendered by the Indians have come at Louisville. Yesterday was the first walk-off slam allowed by Indianapolis since Sept. 2, 2013, when Denis Phipps hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning vs. position player Matt Hague. The Indians entered the inning with a 5-2 lead and surrendered five runs in the inning for the loss.

FIVE-RUN COMEBACKS: The Indians overcame a five-run deficit for their second consecutive game before losing to Louisville in extra innings. It was their third such comeback attempt of the season and first that didn't result in a win. The first two that resulted in wins both came at the hands of Christian Bethancourt, who singled home Travis Swaggerty in the ninth inning on May 16 for a 6-5 win and Anthony Alford on Sunday to score the tying run and set up a crazy walk-off play that brought Wilmer Difo home for the win in the 11th. Including this season, the Indians have 11 five-run comebacks dating back to 2005, with the last one prior to this season coming on Aug. 18, 2019 vs. Lehigh Valley when they scored five runs in the ninth inning and walked off the game in the 10th.

ALFORD'S AMAZING STRETCH: Anthony Alford extended his hitting streak to a team-high nine games last night with an eighth-inning leadoff double. Since the streak began on June 10, he is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with four doubles, two home runs, seven RBI and 11 walks to eight strikeouts. He has reached base safely in all 15 games played in June, good for a .597 on-base percentage and 1.397 OPS. Dating back to May 26, Alford ranks among all qualified professional baseball players (MLB included) with a .558 on-base percentage (2nd), .404 average (3rd) and 1.295 OPS (5th).

CRAIG CLEANING UP: Will Craig went 2-for-4 last night to raise his batting average to .333 (15-for-45) in the month of June. It was his sixth multi-hit game of the month and eighth overall in 18 total contests with Indianapolis. Craig is hitting .296 (21-for-71) with six doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI in Triple-A this season while splitting time between Indy and Pittsburgh.

TONIGHT: The Indians will look to tie the series at 1-1 tonight after dropping just their second series opener of the season last night at Louisville. The Indians' only previous series-opening loss came at Omaha when they were swept in six games. Louisville has only won one series this season (6/1-6 vs. St. Paul, 4-2) despite taking an early 1-0 lead in five of them. RHP Cody Ponce will take the mound for the Indians coming off a gem in his last start, and he will face off against prospect RHP Hunter Greene.

PONCE PERFORMING: Cody Ponce tossed seven one-run innings last Friday for his first quality start of the season. He fanned a season-high nine batters in the outing, his most since recording a career-high 12 strikeouts on July 9, 2016 at High-A Bradenton. His lone run allowed came on a leadoff homer to Kramer Robertson, and he surrendered six hits in the outing with no walks. He exited the game in a 1-1 tie and took the no-decision as the Indians improved to 2-1 in extra innings. Ponce is still looking for his first win this season and is currently 0-2 with a 5.49 ERA (19er/31.1ip) and 25 strikeouts in seven games (six starts) with Indianapolis.

HUNTER THROWS HEAT: Cincinnati's No. 5 preseason prospect according to Baseball America, Hunter Greene, will make his second Triple-A start tonight vs. the Indians. In his Triple-A debut on June 17 at Omaha, Greene topped out at 104 MPH on his fastball to strike out three Storm Chasers in the first inning. He fanned eight total batters but also surrendered four hits - all home runs - in his 4.0-inning outing to take the loss.

MATINEE MARATHON: The four hour, 19 minute marathon between Indianapolis and Memphis on Sunday is tied for the sixth-longest game in Victory Field history and the longest in only 11 innings. It was the longest game since Aug. 1, 2015 when the Indians went for just as long in 13 innings vs. Charlotte. The longest game in Victory Field history came on June 9, 2013 when Indy and Norfolk played 13 innings in four hours and 42 minutes.

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