IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (23-25) at Columbus Clippers (24-24)

Published on May 27, 2023 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Huntington Park

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #49 / ROAD #29: Indianapolis Indians (23-25) at Columbus Clippers (24-24)

PROBABLES: RHP Quinn Priester (5-3, 4.12) vs. RHP Gavin Williams (2-1, 2.10)

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

TV: Bally Live app / MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Aaron Shackelford hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the fourth inning - the second of three long balls hit by Indianapolis - to drive the Indians to a 7-3 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Friday night at Huntington Park. Shackelford's shot to right put the Indians in front for good after Indy's Cal Mitchell and Columbus' Chris Roller traded solo home runs in the first and third innings, respectively. Columbus inched closer in the fifth inning on a throwing error by Shackelford across the diamond from first to third, but Indianapolis scored three runs in its next trip to the plate, highlighted by a Jared Triolo run-scoring double and Mark Mathias RBI single. Oscar Gonzalez cut the Clippers' deficit to 6-3 with a solo blast off J.C. Flowers in the home half of the sixth, but Canaan Smith-Njigba smacked his third homer of the series before the stretch. Chase De Jong, Ryan Borucki and Carmen Mlodzinski each tossed scoreless innings to finish off Indy's 16th road win.

SHACK ATTACKED: Aaron Shackelford left the yard for the third time in two games on Friday night, collecting his second consecutive three-RBI game. He has homered in three of his last five at-bats and has seven homers on the season, which leads the team. During the month of May, the 26-year-old is hitting .298 (17-for-57) with 12 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, six home runs, 14 RBI, 13 walks, .444 on-base percentage and 1.146 OPS.

BOMBS AWAY: Indianapolis' offense has showcased its power through the four games of the series at Huntington Park. The Indians have clubbed three or more homers in each of their last three games, including a season-high four home runs in their 12-9 victory on Wednesday night. Indy's four-homer performance was the team's most since Sept. 26, 2021 at Omaha. The Indians have now clubbed 10 homers in their last four games, which is the second most in the International League, behind Louisville (11). Aaron Shackelford and Canaan Smith-Njigba lead the team during this stretch with three homers apiece.

MR. RELIABLE: Outfielder Cal Mitchell went 1-for-2 with a homer, two runs scored and three walks on Friday night. The 24-year-old has reached base safely in 16 of his last 18 games and is having an excellent month of May. This month, he's hitting .319 (23-for-72) with four doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, 12 walks, four stolen bases, .425 OBP and .967 OPS. Mitchell leads the Indians offense in RBI, hits, runs and stolen bases this month.

CSN BIG FLIES: Canaan Smith-Njigba has hit safely in his last six games, and eight of his last 10 games. He is hitting .324 (12-for-37) with three doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and a 1.120 OPS. Prior to this 10-game stretch, he was hitting .129 (4-for-31) in his first eight games with Indianapolis. He has ripped three home runs this week and now has five total in 18 games with Indianapolis, an improvement from his lone homer in 2022 in 52 games with Indy. Last season in Indy, he hit .277 (51-for-184) with 15 doubles, and three triples before being recalled by Pittsburgh on June 13 to make his major league debut the following day.

BOLT SHOW: Cody Bolton closed out Wednesday night's contest - earning his first save of the season - with two no-hit innings with three strikeouts. The right-hander has made 17 relief appearances this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA (4er/17.1ip), 19 strikeouts, 0.98 WHIP and .208 batting average against. Bolton has been most effective on the road this season, he hasn't allowed a run in 10.2 innings while punching out 14 hitters, 0.66 WHIP and .147 AVG. Between two seasons with Indianapolis, Bolton owns a 2.90 ERA (30er/93.0ip) with 101 strikeouts. Pittsburgh selected his contract on April 26 and made his major league debut on April 29 (2) at Washington with 2.0 scoreless frames, he was optioned to Indy on May 9.

TONIGHT: The Indians and Clippers will continue their six-game set at Huntington Park tonight at 7:05 PM ET. The Indians evened the series with a 7-3 win on Friday night. The two club's first matched up first at Victory Field from April 25-29, Columbus took three of five games in the rain-shortened series. Tonight, the pitching matchup features two MLB Pipeline top 100 prospects squaring off against each other -RHP Quinn Priester (5-3, 4.12) for Indianapolis, rated as the No. 65 overall prospect, and RHP Gavin Williams (2-1, 2.10) for Columbus, who is Cleveland's No. 1 prospect and No. 17 overall in the minor leagues.

QUALITY QUINN: Quinn Priester will take the hill today for his 10th start of the season against the Clippers. Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline collected his fourth consecutive win last time out vs. Iowa on May 21. The 22-year-old earned three quality-start wins in his four starts in May, going 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA (3er/24.0ip) and 19 punchouts compared to five walks. His last outing against Columbus came at Victory Field on April 27, he tossed 4.0 scoreless before surrendering four runs in part of a seven-run fifth inning for the Clippers. Priester finished last season with a 3.29 ERA (33er/90.1ip) overall between Double-A Altoona and a short stint with Indy en route to being honored as the Young Bucs Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year, given to the top-performing minor league pitcher in Pittsburgh's organization.

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.

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International League Stories from May 27, 2023


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