IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (23-19) vs. Louisville Bats (13-28)

Published on May 23, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians look to secure the series win this afternoon in game three of a four-game set against Louisville.

Location: Victory Field

First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. ET

Game #43 / Home #22: Indianapolis Indians (23-19) vs. Louisville Bats (13-28)

Probables: RHP Austin Coley (1-2, 9.00) vs. RHP Robert Stephenson (3-4, 3.89)

Radio: FoxSports975.com / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV / Comcast 90

From the Notes

ABOUT YESTERDAY: The Indians knocked off Louisville yesterday by a 5-3 final, their third straight win and seventh in their last 10 games. The result moved Indy to a season-high four games over .500. The Tribe scored two runs in the first on a double by Jordan Luplow, and after falling behind 3-2 in the fourth, relief pitcher Casey Sadler poked a two-run single down the right-field line to put Indy in front for good. Sadler tossed 2.1 scoreless innings on the bump to earn the win, preceding two shutout innings by Dovydas Neverauskas and Johnny Hellweg's ninth save, second most in the IL. Jerrick Suiter added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to cap the scoring. Ryan Lavarnway led the Tribe offense with two hits in three at-bats, making him 10-for-24 (.417) over his last seven games.

EXTRAS FOR LUPLOW: Jordan Luplow's double in the first inning yesterday was his eighth of the season and seventh in the month of May. It also moved his extra-base hit total to a team-high 14 in May (7 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers). He owns a .329 average (23-for-70) and 1.113 OPS this month.

NEAR A RECORD PACE: The Indians' 113 two-baggers leads the league, easily ahead of Toledo's 93 which sits second. The Tribe are averaging 2.69 doubles per game, putting them on pace for 377 doubles. The franchise record for doubles in a season is 378, set over a 166-game season in 1931. The Victory Field era record for doubles in a season is 299, accomplished in both 1998 and 2000.

CASEY SADLER, THE BATTER: Casey Sadler's two-run single yesterday gave him three RBI on the season, the only ribbies recorded by Tribe pitchers at the plate. He had three RBI in his entire career prior to his last two games batting. His two-RBI performance was the first multi-RBI game by a Tribe pitcher since Clay Holmes tallied two on May 26, 2017 at Lehigh Valley.

PITCH AT YOUR OWN RISP: 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 (nine games), the Tribe outfielder has gone 8-for-10 (.800) with one double and nine RBI in those same situations. He is batting .368 (14-for-38) with RISP this year, the best among Tribe players with 15 or more at-bats with RISP.

BY THE NUMBERS - .417: Erich Weiss has torched Louisville pitchers over the last two seasons, batting .417 (30-for-72) in 23 games against the Bats. He owns a .308 average (4-for-13) against them in four games this season.

BOOM BOSTICK: Despite going 0-for-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts yesterday, Christopher Bostick still has multi-hit performances in seven of his last nine games. Over his previous 13 contests, the 25-year-old owns a .350 average (21-for-60) with one homer, six doubles, 13 RBI and 10 runs scored.

TABLE SETTER: Kevin Newman has 26 hits since May 8, the most in Triple-A and second most in professional baseball to only Double-A New Hampshire's Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (27). Newman is batting .413 (33-for-80) through 20 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 10 more knocks to match Josh Bell's record 43 hits set in June 2016.

THAT'S TWO THUS FAR, SHOOTER: The Tribe have started their favorable schedule off on the right foot with a pair of narrow victories over Lou-isville. On paper, the schedule is considerably easier over the next three weeks. The Indians play Louisville (13-28), Charlotte (17-27), Gwinnett (16-26), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (19-24), Rochester (21-18) and Pawtucket (19-22) up through June 10. The winning percentage of their next four opponents is .384 (66-106) and jumps slightly to .420 (105-145) when adding the Rochester/Pawtucket road trip.

WY-HIT MATHISEN: Tribe infielder Wyatt Mathisen is batting a combined .423 (22-for-52) with two home runs, one triple, seven doubles, 10 RBI, 14 walks, 16 runs scored and a 1.275 OPS in 21 games between Double-A Altoona and Indy. In nine games with the Tribe, Mathisen is batting .462 (12-for-26) with one home run, four 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 7-for-23 (.304) with both of his home runs this season coming against southpaws.

OFFENSE ON POINT: The Indians lead the IL in average (.281), doubles (113), OBP (.338) and slugging percentage (.430), and they're second in triples (13). The Tribe also rank third in fewest strikeouts (310) and stolen bases (34) and fourth in runs scored (194 - 4.62 runs per game).

TRIBE TRIO: Johnny Hellweg, Tanner Anderson and Dovydas Neverauskas have dominated IL opposition since April 7. The trio has combined for 11 saves and a 0.50 ERA (3 ER/53.2 IP) since that date. They've yielded just 38 hits and 17 walks with 46 strikeouts, posting a 1.02 WHIP along the way.

MAY WE HAVE A WORD: Indy's bullpen overall in May has been spectacular. Thirteen total pitchers have taken the bump for Indy this month, collecting a 2.70 ERA (21 ER/70.0 IP). Indians relievers have combined for 12 saves, 14 holds and a 3.16 ERA this season.

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from May 23, 2018


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.

OurSports Central