IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (25-21) at Louisville Bats (17-29)

Published on June 27, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 1:00 PM ET

GAME #47 / Road #29: Indianapolis Indians (25-21) at Louisville Bats (17-29)

PROBABLES: RHP Beau Sulser (3-2, 4.35) vs. RHP Jeff Hoffman (0-0, 0.00)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians couldn't overcome a four-run second inning by Louisville to drop the fifth game of the series on Saturday night, 6-1. Three two-run hits from the Bats lifted them to victory: A double by Brantley Bell with no outs in the second inning, a single by Mallex Smith with one out in the same frame, and a double-turned-Little League home run by Errol Robinson in the fifth. The Indians lone run crossed home plate on Will Craig's third home run in the past two games, a solo shot to dead center field, in the sixth inning. Steven Wright took the loss with all six Bats runs on his line, and Bo Takahashi earned the win with four innings in relief of MLB rehabber Sonny Gray.

TRIPLE DOSE OF DINGERS: For the second time this season, Will Craig has recorded a streak of three home runs in two games. In the sixth inning last night, Craig homered to straightaway center as the lone Indians run in the game to follow a two-homer performance on Friday. To begin the streak, he launched a three-run home run in the third and followed with a solo bomb in the seventh in the Indians 7-6 win over the Bats on Friday. Craig's first two-home run game of the season came on May 11 vs. Toledo, when he went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs in Victory Field's home opener. He followed up that performance with a solo home run the next day to notch his first home run stretch of the season. Craig's longest streak of consecutive games with a home run is three, which he met twice in 2018 with Double-A Altoona (April 8-10, June 12-14).

KEEP IT ROLLING: Four members of the Indians roster are currently working hitting streaks of five-plus games. The four players and their current streaks are listed below.

Will Craig, 5 games (6/22-26): .421 AVG (8-for-19), 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 1.395 OPS

Kevin Kramer, 5 games (6/22-26): .333 AVG (6-for-18), 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K

Wilmer Difo, 6 games (6/19-26): .364 AVG (8-for-22), 2 2B, 1 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 5 K

T.J. Rivera, 7 games (6/15-24): .407 AVG (11-for-27), 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 1.117 OPS

NOT FOLLOWING THE TRENDS: The Indians entered the six-game series at Louisville with a 6-1 record in both Game 1 and Game 5 of their seven series so far this season. With losses in both of those games this week, interestingly enough, the losses have come at the hands of the bookend teams in the Triple-A East Midwest Division. The Indians first losses in those games came at Omaha, which overtook Indianapolis for the division lead during the six-game sweep at the end of May, and Louisville currently anchors the division in last place.

MAX IS A MAJOR LEAGUER: The Pittsburgh Pirates announced yesterday that Max Kranick will make his major league debut today as the starter for their 2:15 PM ET game at St. Louis. Kranick, who was promoted to Indianapolis on May 31, has made four starts with the Indians this season and is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA (10er/19.1ip) and 20 strikeouts. His best start with the Triple-A club came on June 12 at Nashville, when he held the Sounds to one hit through five scoreless innings and fanned a career-high tying nine batters. The 23-year-old entered the 2021 campaign rated as Pittsburgh's No. 30 prospect by Baseball America and No. 28 with a "Control" grade of 55 by MLB Pipeline.

TODAY: After losing last night's contest to give Louisville a 3-2 series lead, the Indians will look to board the bus back to Indianapolis with a series tie today in a 1:00 PM start. The Indians haven't lost a series since being swept by Omaha from May 25-30 after narrowly fending off a loss with back-to-back wins to end the series at Nashville (June 8-13). Louisville hasn't won a series since taking four of six from St. Paul from June 2-6. This afternoon's game will be a rematch of the series opener that the Bats won, 9-5, off a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning. RHP Beau Sulser will take the mound for the Indians, with RHP Jeff Hoffman making his second rehab start with the Bats.

SULSER STARTING: Beau Sulser will look to bounce back from his last start on Tuesday vs. the Bats lineup and seal a series tie for the Indians this afternoon. Last time out he surrendered four runs in four innings, but took a no-decision as the Indianapolis offense heaped on the runs to come back from a five-run deficit. Two of Sulser's best starts have come in June, and his past four have cumulated in a 3.26 ERA (7er/19.1ip) and 21 strikeouts for the month. On June 16 at Memphis, he tossed 6.0 scoreless innings for his only quality start of the season. The only time he has faced a team twice in the same series was at St. Paul, with his second outing coming on May 23. After earning the win on May 18 with three runs allowed in five innings, Sulser took the loss to end the series with five runs allowed (two earned) in four innings.

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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International League Stories from June 27, 2021


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