IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (23-20) at Louisville Bats (16-27)

Published on June 24, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:00 PM ET

GAME #44 / Road #26: Indianapolis Indians (23-20) at Louisville Bats (16-27)

PROBABLES: RHP Kyle Keller (2-0, 1.38) vs. RHP Michael Mariot (0-1, 1.64)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians were shut out for the first time since May 28 at Omaha last night, 5-0. Louisville took an early lead in the first inning with a two-run triple from Logan Morrison to drive in Alejo Lopez and Narciso Crook with one out. The Bats scored one more in the frame with a sacrifice fly from Alfredo Rodriguez to take a 3-0 lead. Rodriguez then drove in another in the third inning with a single. The Indians threatened in the top of the fourth inning with the bases loaded. Cole Tucker and Will Craig each singled and Christian Bethancourt walked with two outs, but Jared Oliva popped up to end the inning. After Cody Ponce surrendered the first four Bats runs on eight hits in the first five innings, Weiman entered in the sixth and gave up an RBI single to Mallex Smith to tack on another for the 5-0 loss.

ALFORD'S AMAZING STRETCH: Despite snapping his hitting streak last night with an 0-for-3 performance, Anthony Alford extended his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games with a walk. In June, Alford is hitting .417 (20-for-48) with a .579 on-base percentage and 1.326 OPS. During his team-high nine-game hitting streak from June 10-22, he hit .464 (13-for-28) with 11 walks to eight strikeouts, good for a .625 OBP and 1.446 OPS. Dating back to May 26, Alford ranks among all qualified professional baseball players (MLB included) with a .543 on-base percentage (2nd), 1.243 OPS (7th) and .383 average (10th).

T.J. RIVERA: T.J. Rivera went 2-for-4 with a double for the Indians lone extra-base hit last night at Louisville. Rivera has been a consistent bat for the Indians over the past month, hitting .316 (18-for-57) in 18 games in June. Dating back to June 15, he has hit safely in six of seven contests with three multi-hit games, a .400 on-base percentage and 1.009 OPS.

HUNTER THROWS HEAT: The Indians faced Hunter Greene, Cincinnati's No. 5 preseason prospect according to Baseball America, last night in his second career Triple-A start. Greene earned the win with five shutout innings where he allowed two hits, three walks and fanned six batters. The hard-throwing right-hander topped out at 102 mph in the outing and bounced back from his first loss in which he hit 104 on the radar gun but surrendered four home runs.

TONIGHT: After losing the first two games of the series to Louisville, the Indians will look to cut the Bats' series lead to one game tonight in a 7:00 PM ET first pitch. The last time the Indians lost the first two games of a series was when they were swept at Omaha from May 25-30. Louisville is the first sub-.500 team to beat Indy in back-to-back games and is the fourth Triple-A East team to do so this season (Iowa, Omaha, Nashville). The only other time this season the Bats won the first two games of a series was vs. St. Paul on June 2-3, and they ended up winning the series (their only series win of the year), 4-2. RHP Kyle Keller will take the mound vs. RHP Michael Mariot.

KYLE KELLER : Kyle Keller will make the third start of his career and first since Aug. 12, 2017 (2) with Single-A Greensboro tonight vs. Louisville. So far this season, Keller has made 10 relief appearances with Indianapolis and is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA (2er/13.0ip), 0.69 WHIP and .156 average against (7-for-45) with 25 strikeouts. He hasn't allowed a hit in his last three innings pitched with five total strikeouts. Keller has never pitched more than 4.0 innings, with his last outing of that length coming in his most recent start vs. Single-A Kannapolis. He has only pitched 4.0 innings twice, both during that 2017 season.

BATTLING THE BATS: RHP Michael Mariot will make his third start with Louisville tonight vs. the Indians. He was signed by Cincinnati as a minor league free agent on June 9 and has since compiled a 1.64 ERA (2er/11.0ip) in two outings this season. Mariot tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in his season debut on June 12 at Toledo before taking the loss on June 18 at Omaha in a quality start (6.0ip, 6h, 2r, 2er, 3bb, 3k).

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.

WALK-OFF GRAND SLAMS: After Tuesday's 10th inning blast by Michael De Leon, the last two walk-off grand slams surrendered by the Indians have come at Louisville. Tuesday 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.

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