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IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (26-26) at Omaha Storm Chasers (27-25)

June 5, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Werner Park

FIRST PITCH: 6:05 PM ET

GAME #53 / Road #30: Indianapolis Indians (26-26) at Omaha Storm Chasers (27-25)

PROBABLES: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (2-2, 4.58) vs. RHP Jackson Kowar (3-3, 5.80)

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

TV: MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Five of the six Indians runs came via the longball, but the Storm Chasers overcame a four-run deficit to emerge victorious in the fifth game of the six-game series this week, 7-6. Oneil Cruz smoked his second leadoff home run of the road trip to begin the scoring for the Indians. After Omaha took the lead on a two-run homer by Freddy Fermin in the second, Bligh Madris levelled the contest with a solo shot in the fourth. With the score knotted at 2-2 entering the sixth inning, Madris then singled home Canaan Smith-Njigba from third base. Two batters later, Hoy Park launched his second home run of the season to straightaway center field to extend the lead to four runs. A two-run homer off the bat of JaCoby Jones cut the Omaha deficit to two runs following a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the sixth. In the Storm Chasers' offensive half of the seventh, another leadoff walk came to score on a Vinnie Pasquantino one-out single en route to a three-run frame. Two batters later, Clay Dungan roped the two-out, go-ahead double off Hunter Stratton.

ONEIL ON IT: Oneil Cruz launched his second leadoff home run of the season last night for his third homer in his last five games and fifth in his last 10. The 6-foot-7 prospect has reached base safely in each of his last 10 games and his hit safely in nine dating back to 5/22 vs. Toledo. In that time span, Cruz owns a .333 average (14-for-42) with five multi-hit performances, five of eight home runs this season, seven RBI and a 1.094 OPS. Since 5/15, Cruz is hitting .311 (19-for-61) with seven extra-base hits and 13 RBI.

BLIGH GUY: Bligh Madris launched his second home run in the last three game and his fourth of the 12-game road trip last night to extend his on-base streak to 14 games. Since 5/20 vs. Toledo, the beginning of his on-base streak, he has hit safely in 12 of 13 games with an official at-bat and is hitting .356 (16-for-45) with eight extra-base hits, a .463 on-base percentage and 1.174 OPS. From 8/26-10/3/21, Madris recorded a team and career-high 26-game on-base streak and hit .320 (32-for-100) with 10 doubles and two home runs, a stretch which included a team-high 15-game hitting streak. He also finished the 2021 season tied with teammate Chris Sharpe for the most doubles by an Indians batter (25).

STARTING AHEAD: The Indians have scored first in 10 of 12 games of the road trip and are 5-7 in that time span. They are no stranger to jumping out to early leads, scoring first in 33 of 52 games this season. In games where they score first, the Indians are 19-14 and overall have surrendered early leads that have led to 16 losses.

SWIPERS NOT SWIPING: After stealing 48 bases in their first 30 games of the season - which ranked second in all of Triple-A behind Tacoma (52), the Indians have stolen just 19 bases in their last 23 games. They stole at least one base - 22 total - in 12 consecutive games from 4/27-5/11, which is tied with Memphis for the longest such streak in the International League this season. Since then, they have stolen at least one base in just 10 of 23 games.

I'M GONNA BE (.500 RECORD): The Indians have spent just five days below the .500 mark in 52 games and have never dropped more than one game below even this season. When they're at risk of dropping below the .500 line, the Indians are 10-5 and are 4-0 since last going below .500 on 5/14 (16-17). Indianapolis has been a season-high four games above .500 twice this season, after a season-high five-game winning streak on 4/13 (6-2) and following Game 1 of a doubleheader at St. Paul on 5/25 (23-19).

TONIGHT: The Indians will look to leave Omaha with a series tie tonight at 6:05 PM ET at Werner Park. The Indians welcomed the Storm Chasers to Victory Field for Opening Week and went 4-2 in the six-game series. In 2021, the Omaha dominated Indianapolis at Werner Park and went 9-2 with a six-game sweep from 5/25-30. Since the beginning of 2021 - which was the first season where the two teams faced off against each other since 1997 and the American Association era - Indy has gone 11-17 against the Storm Chasers. In a rematch of Game 1, Jerad Eickhoff will take the mound for the Indians against Jackson Kowar. In three starts vs. Indy this season, Kowar has surrendered just one earned run in 14.0 innings.

INDIANA GROWN: Jerad Eickhoff will make his fifth start in 11 appearances with the Indians today, coming off one of his best outings this season. On Tuesday at Omaha, Eickhoff surrendered just one hit - a second-inning single to Clay Dungan. Following a leadoff walk to JaCoby Jones in the third, Eickhoff mowed down his next nine batters faced. It was his longest outing with just one hit allowed since 9/12/21 with Triple-A Syracuse at Buffalo when he surrendered one hit and two unearned runs over 6.0 innings. The right-hander also has an impressive walk rate, walking just six percent (nine) of 140 total batters faced with Indianapolis this season.

SWAGS TO THE SHOW: The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they have recalled their 2018 first-round draft pick and No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Travis Swaggerty. The center fielder entered the season listed as the Pirates' "Best Defensive Outfielder" and "Best Outfield Arm" by Baseball America. After a slow April, Swaggerty has been one of the hottest bats in Indy's lineup. In his past 16 games - 10 of which have been multi-hit performances - he owns a .397 batting average (25-for-63) with four doubles, two triples, three home runs, 14 RBI and a 1.132 OPS. He made his debut with the Indians on 5/4/21 and launched a leadoff home run in his first Triple-A plate appearance. Swaggerty hit three home runs and drove in seven runs in 12 games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Coming back from surgery this season, he is hitting .280 (37-for-132) with an .801 OPS in 35 games.

THIS DATE IN 2015: Indians closer Blake Wood recorded his 15th save of the season in a 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley after converting seven save opportunities in the month of May, which is tied for the third-most by an Indians pitcher in a single season dating back to 2005. Wood converted 29 saves in 34 opportunities to lead the International League in that category for that season, it was the most saves by an Indians pitcher since Bob Scanlan recorded 35 in 2000.

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