IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (27-26) at Columbus Clippers (24-29)

Published on July 6, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Huntington Park

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #54 / Road #30: Indianapolis Indians (27-26) at Columbus Clippers (24-29)

PROBABLES: RHP Mitch Keller (0-0, 2.79) vs. RHP Brad Peacock (0-1, 5.40)

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

TV: MiLB TV

GAME 6 ON THE FOURTH: The Indians lost their second consecutive Fourth of July contest, 5-2, on Sunday evening vs. the Iowa Cubs in front of a season-high 10,869 fans. Iowa took the lead in the second inning with a two-run home run out to right field by catcher Tony Wolters. The I-Cubs tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning on RBI hits by Tyler Ladendorf and Dee Strange-Gordon to take the lead they needed for the win. Christian Bethancourt rocketed a homer out to left field to put the Indians on the board in the fourth inning, and their second run came via a bases-loaded walk to Cole Tucker in the fifth. The game, in a Fourth of July 6:15 PM start, was Indianapolis' shortest nine-inning contest of the season at two hours and 25 minutes. The previous shortest came also in a series finale vs. Iowa when the two teams played a 2:28 game at Principal Park on May 9.

MOWING THEM DOWN: Beau Sulser, in his first relief appearance of the season, tossed 5.1 hitless innings with a career-high tying seven strikeouts to end Sunday night's game in quick fashion vs. Iowa. Being stretched out as a starter on Indy's staff, the outing was Sulser's longest relief appearance of 87 career games out of the bullpen. The right-hander allowed three walks for his only base runners of the outing and retired five consecutive batters via strikeout en route to his second seven-punchout game this season.

JUST KEEP SWINGING: With a 2-for-4 performance and a solo home run 421 feet out to left field, Christian Bethancourt extended his hitting streak to seven games and his RBI streak to a team-high five games on Sunday evening. The streak of five consecutive games with an RBI - he has seven in that span - is the longest by an Indians batter since Kevin Kramer from May 21-25, 2019. Two batters, Adam Frazier and Jordan Luplow, had streaks of six games with an RBI during the 2018 season. Since the beginning of his hitting streak on June 26 at Louisville, Bethancourt is hitting .412 (10-for-26).

MINOR LEAGUE SIGNINGS, MAJOR RESULTS: In his first leadoff appearance since Sept. 25, 2016 with New York (NL) and first as a starter since July 1, 2015 with Triple-A Las Vegas, T.J. Rivera went 2-for-4 on Sunday vs. Iowa. He tied with Christian Bethancourt for the team high in hits that evening. Since June 15, Rivera is hitting .356 (16-for-45) with five extra-base hits, seven runs scored and five RBI. Rivera and Bethancourt were both signed as minor league free agents and joined Indy's roster after the start of the season, and they're two of the lineups most consistent, healthy bats entering the series with Columbus.

WHAT'S WITH THE ROSTER: The Indians announced a number of roster moves today and throughout the holiday weekend that will create a new look for the infield moving forward. After being designated for assignment earlier this season and playing in 12 games with the Indians, Wilmer Difo was selected by Pittsburgh on Saturday. On Sunday, longtime Indians infielder Kevin Kramer was traded to Milwaukee. It was then announced today that shortstop Cole Tucker was recalled by Pittsburgh, leaving Indy with four infielders on its roster. To offset the number of moves coming in the past few days, infielder Ethan Paul was transferred back to Indianapolis from Double-A Altoona, outfielder Fabricio Macias was promoted from High-A Greensboro, and right-hander Tanner Anderson, who pitched for Indy in 2018, was signed to a minor league contract.

NEWBIE: Outfielder Fabricio Macias was promoted from High-A Greensboro to Indianapolis and is active for tonight's game at Columbus. The outfielder played in 44 games with the Grasshoppers and hit .316 (54-for-171) with 17 extra-base hits and 38 RBI to begin the season. He was signed by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent on Feb. 21, 2018 after spending 2016-17 in the Mexican League. In 73 games with Saraperos De Saltillo in 2017, he hit .318 (55-for-173).

TONIGHT: The Indians will look to snap a three-game losing streak tonight at Columbus. So far this season, the Indians hold a 4-2 series lead over the Clippers after facing off at Victory Field from June 1-6. Tied at 1-1 through Thursday night's game following a postponement on Wednesday, the Indians swept a Friday doubleheader and won Saturday night's contest for the series win. Tonight, both teams will face off against new starting pitchers on the season. For Columbus, RHP Brad Peacock will be taking the mound for his second start after being signed as a minor league free agent on June 25. In his first outing, he tossed just 1.2 innings and took the loss as he surrendered one run. For the Indians, Mitch Keller looks to build upon his last start and improve the team to 5-0 when he takes the mound.

RETURN TO HUNTINGTON PARK: The Indians return to Huntington Park tonight after finishing the 2019 season with a winning record in Columbus' home park. The Clippers took the 2019 series, 9-15, behind a 2-10 showing at Victory Field, but the Indians offense boomed in the hitters' park on the road to take seven of 12 games. After Columbus won the season-opening series, three games to one, the Indians flipped the script and won six of their last eight games in Columbus. In those final eight games, the Indians outscored the Clippers, 61-46. They also hit four home runs in each of the final two games and finished the season with a total of 20 home runs in 12 games at Huntington Park.

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