IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (26-23) vs. Iowa Cubs (18-29)

July 1, 2021 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #50 / Home #21: Indianapolis Indians (26-23) vs. Iowa Cubs (18-29)

PROBABLES: RHP James Marvel (3-1, 4.40) vs. RHP Cory Abbott (1-3, 5.94)

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

TV: MiLB TV/ MyINDYTV 23

YESTERDAY: The Indians beat the I-Cubs in walk-off fashion on Wednesday afternoon, their third walk-off in a day game this season, 2-1. Iowa got the scoring started early when the first three batters of the game reached base safely off Indianapolis starter Mitch Keller. Keller escaped the inning with just one run allowed on a sacrifice fly by Michael Hermosillo to score Ian Miller, the only Iowa run of the day. The Indians got on the board in the seventh inning thanks to an error and wild pitch to put Wilmer Difo at third base. He was then driven home by T.J. Rivera to knot the game at 1-1. After Keller exited the game through four, the Indians bullpen held Iowa to just two hits through the final six innings to preserve the comeback opportunity.

WALK IT OFF... AGAIN: Christian Bethancourt's 10th-inning single yesterday afternoon was his third walk-off at Victory Field this season out of the team's four total. After Indy stranded Iowa's automatic runner on second base in the top half of the extra frame, the Indians threatened for the win. With T.J. Rivera on second base, Taylor Davis placed a perfect bunt between third base and the mound to move the runner over. Bethancourt then roped a single to right field to score the winning run. With four walk-offs so far this year, the Indians have tied their 2019 season total less than halfway through the season. Four walk-offs is the most by the team since 2019 when they walked off seven times.

IN A PINCH: Last night's pinch-hit single by Christian Bethancourt to drive in the game-winning run was his second hit in three pinch-hit at-bats so far this season. On 6/20 vs. Memphis, the last game where he singled to set up a walk-off win, Bethancourth originally entered as a pinch hitter and launched a two-run home run in that appearance to begin a four-run eighth inning.

TONIGHT: After tying up the series vs. Iowa last night at one game apiece, the Indians will look to take their first lead in a series since their last homestand vs. Memphis when they won five of six games. RHP James Marvel will take the mound for Indy vs. Iowa's Cory Abbott, with both starters each facing off against the opposing team in the first series of the season. Their lines and the results of those games are listed below:

May 6, Cory Abbott (Indians won, 5-4): L, 6.0ip, 3h, 4r, 3er, 1hr, 3bb, 8k

May 7, James Marvel (Iowa won, 4-3, in 10 innings): ND, 5.0ip, 5h, 2r, 2er, 1hr, 3bb, 5k

MARVELOUS CONSISTENCY: In each of his five appearances (four starts) with Indy this month and all but one of his nine appearances (eight starts) for the season, James Marvel has tossed at least 5.0 innings. On the season, Marvel is 3-1 with a 4.40 ERA (22er/45.0ip) and has a chance to place himself back on the league leaderboard in innings pitched with another solid outing, as he is just 0.1 innings shy of currently being tied for 10th place in the Triple-A East. Last time out, he earned the win at Louisville with 5.0 innings in his second career relief appearance. His longest outing of the season came on June 8 when he tossed 5.2 one-run innings at Nashville to earn his first win of the season. His past three decisions (in four appearances) have all been in the win column.

HISTORY VS. IOWA: Indianapolis and Iowa played each other from 1969-1997 as members of the American Association. On June 23, 1997, the Indians scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to set a Victory Field era record for runs in a single inning and went on to beat Iowa by 16 runs (18-2), the largest margin of victory for Indianapolis against Iowa since 1988.

NO THANKS: In the series finale of Opening Week on May 9 in Des Moines, four Iowa Cubs pitchers combined to throw the first no-hitter against the Indians since April 18, 2018 (1) at Syracuse (7.0 innings) and the last 9.0-inning no-no since June 10, 2002 against Columbus. Shelby Miller, Tommy Nance (W), Brad Wieck and Ryan Meisinger (S) combined with 15 strikeouts and held the Indians to three baserunners (all walks) and only three balls hit to the outfield (Chris Sharpe, Cole Tucker and Kevin Kramer). It was the second no-hitter in the all-time series history between Iowa and Indianapolis, the first coming when Iowa Oaks' pitcher Homer Stinson no-hit the Indians on Aug. 25, 1974 (9.0ip, 0r, 5bb, 6k).

WELL, THIS IS WEIRD: Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they had signed Shelby Miller as a minor league free agent and assigned him to Indianapolis. Most notably, Miller (on a rehab assignment) was the starting pitcher in the I-Cubs combined no-hitter against the Indians on May 9. In that game, Miller went 3.0 innings and paired one walk with five strikeouts. He was designated for assignment and released by Chicago (NL) at the end of May before being picked up by Pittsburgh. Miller, St. Louis' first-round draft pick in 2009, spent 2013-16 as a regular member of the starting rotations in St. Louis, Atlanta and Arizona. He is 38-56 in his MLB career with a 4.18 ERA (353er/760.1ip), placed third in 2013 NL ROY voting and was named an NL All-Star with the Braves in '15.

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