NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (23-21) at St. Paul Saints (18-26)

May 27, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: CHS Field

FIRST PITCH: 8:07 PM ET

GAME #45 / Road #22: Indianapolis Indians (23-21) at St. Paul Saints (18-26)

PROBABLES: RHP Cody Bolton (1-1, 3.33) vs. RHP Dereck Rodriguez (2-0, 1.74)

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

TV: MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians scored first for the third consecutive game in the bottom of the first inning last night, but the Saints won in comeback fashion for the second time in as many games, 8-1. Following a leadoff single, Oneil Cruz stole second base and came around to score on consecutive throwing errors by catcher Jose Godoy and center fielder Jake Cave. The Saints were held scoreless in their first three offensive innings before erupting for eight runs. In the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back pitches, Minnesota Twins No. 1 prospect Royce Lewis singled to third and Alex Kirilloff launched a home run to right- center field to give St. Paul a 2-1 advantage. The Saints then tallied four additional runs in the bottom of the fifth frame, capitalizing off a pair of two-out RBI singles from Lewis and Kirilloff to make it 4-1. Spencer Steer followed with his first Triple-A homer to give St. Paul a 6-1 lead. St. Paul followed with one run in each of the sixth and seventh frames, courtesy of Godoy and left fielder Mark Contreras, to seal the 8-1 victory.

BLIGH GUY: Bligh Madris has now hit safely in five consecutive games and has reached base safely in his last six. Last night, he went 1-for-4 after a standout performance in Wednesday night's doubleheader. Since 5/20, Madris is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with a .556 on-base percentage and 1.289 OPS. After appearing in just 10 April games with the Indians, the corner outfielder is hitting .292 (14-for-48) with five extra-base hits and seven walks to just nine strikeouts in 16 May games.

GOING STREAKING: The Indians continue to own two of the three longest on-base streaks in the International League this season, all of which are still active. Canaan Smith-Njigba (28 games) recorded one of two multi-hit games by Indians batters yesterday and Ji-Hwan Bae (23) went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend their respective streaks. See below for more details about Smith-Njigba and Bae's active streaks.

Canaan Smith-Njigba - Smith-Njigba's 28-game on-base streak is now the highest in his career, besting his previous career-best 27-game on-base streak set during his first professional season in 2017 with GCL Yankees East. It currently ranks as the longest in the IL this season, the second-longest active streak in Triple-A behind El Paso's Nomar Mazara (32) and the sixth-longest active streak in all of Minor League Baseball. Smith-Njigba's 28-gamer is also the longest streak by an Indians batter since Adam Frazier reached base safely in 29 straight games from 5/9-6/8/16 and is tied for the sixth-longest on-base streak by an Indians batter since 2005. The rest are listed below:

46 games, Chris Richard (5/13-7/6/06): .285 AVG (44-for-155), 10 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 26 BB, 31 K, .391 OBP, .510 SLG, .901 OPS

42 games, Ronny Paulino (6/6-7/27/05): .359 AVG (55-for-153), 13 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 15 BB, 24 K, .417 OBP, .667 SLG, 1.084 OPS

41 games, Ty Wigginton (6/24-8/8/05): .284 AVG (46-for-162), 9 2B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 29 BB, 35 K, .391 OBP, .432 SLG, .823 OPS

34 games, Keon Broxton (7/3-8/11/15): .317 AVG (39-for-123), 8 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 23 BB, 37 K, .423 OBP, .512 SLG, .935 OPS

29 games, Adam Frazier (5/9-6/8/16): .357 AVG (41-for-115), 8 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 7 K, 7 SB, .400 OBP, .443 SLG, .843 OPS

28 games, Brian Bixler (7/20-9/5/09): .339 AVG (41-for-121), 4 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 5 BB, 37 K, .375 OBP, .587 SLG, .962 OPS

28 games, Canaan Smith-Njigba (4/22-current): .280 AVG (26-for-93), 8 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 24 BB, 26 K, .427 OBP, .419 SLG, .846 OPS

Ji-Hwan Bae - Bae is currently working a 23-game on-base streak, which trails Smith-Njigba and Durham's Rene Pinto (24) for the third-longest in the IL this season. Since his streak began on 4/27 at Iowa, Bae has hit safely in 18 of his 23 games with a .349 average (30-for-86), .448 on-base percentage and 1.064 OPS. All four of his home runs and 13 of his 15 total extra-base hits this season have come in that time span. He has also struck out just 12 times compared to 17 walks. Bae's longest career on-base streak lasted 25 games from 8/15-9/15/21 with Double-A Altoona, in which he registered a .348 average (31-for-89) with a .459 on-base percentage.

CRUZING: With one of two multi-hit contests by an Indians batter last night, Oneil Cruz has now hit safely in five straight games and nine of his last 10. Since 5/15 at Charlotte, the 6-foot-7 shortstop is hitting .293 (12-for-41) with three home runs and 10 RBI.

TONIGHT: The Indians will look to retake a series lead in the fifth contest of a seven-game series tonight at CHS Field. From 4/12-4/17, the Indians went 2-3 at St. Paul for their first series loss of the season, In 21 games in St. Paul since 2021 - which was the first season the Indians faced a team in St. Paul since 1960 - Indianapolis is 11-10. Tonight, Cody Bolton will take the mound for his second career start vs. St. Paul. Countering for the Saints is Dereck Rodriguez, who has never faced Indy.

BOLTON ON THE BUMP: Cody Bolton will take the mound tonight for his sixth start in 10 appearances with the Indians this season. He has surrendered just two hits with 12 strikeouts over his past 7.1 innings (two appearances, one start). He earned his first career Triple-A win on 5/17 vs. Toledo with 4.0 one-hit innings out of the bullpen, and followed it up by striking out half of his 12 total batters faced on 5/22 vs. Toledo. His six strikeouts in those two outings were his highest since fanning eight batters in 6.0 one-run innings on 7/28/19 with Double-A Altoona vs. Richmond.

THIS DATE IN 2012: Left-hander Jeff Locke recorded the only 10-plus strikeout game of the season for Indianapolis, striking out a career-high tying 11 batters in 6.1 innings at Louisville. Locke surrendered three runs on four hits and gave up no walks in the outing. He took a no-decision as Indy overcame a 4-1 deficit, scoring one in the eighth and seven runs in the top of the ninth for the 9-4 win. Third baseman Jordy Mercer tied the game in the final frame with a two-run homer, and after Alex Presley reached base safely with a run-scoring fielder's choice, Starling Marte cleared the bases with a grand slam.

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics

• Discuss this story on the International League message board...

International League Stories from May 27, 2022


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