IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (34-34) vs. Toledo Mud Hens (38-30)

Published on July 24, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #69 / Home #35: Indianapolis Indians (34-34) vs. Toledo Mud Hens (38-30)

PROBABLES: RHP Mitch Keller (1-0, 2.35) vs. RHP Logan Shore (2-2, 4.44)

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

TV: MiLB TV / MyINDYTV 23

LAST NIGHT: Steven Brault (4.0ip, 0h, 0r, 0bb, 6k) and Beau Sulser (W, 5.0ip, 6h, 1r, 1er, 3bb, 5k) limited one of the Triple-A East's best offenses in Toledo to just one run, and Bligh Madris delivered a clutch two-out single in the seventh to score Ethan Paul from second base as Indy evened the series at two games apiece with a 2-1 victory. For the first time in the series, the Indians scored the game's first run thanks to a Chris Sharpe solo home run to left in the bottom of the second. The score remained that way until the sixth when Toledo used a sacrifice fly to plate its only run of the night. Paul was the unsung hero for Indy. He stole second base with two outs in the seventh to set up Madris' go-ahead base hit, and he also snagged a line drive off the bat of Christin Stewart in the eighth to start a 4-3 double play.

THAT'LL DO, STEVEN: Steven Brault dazzled over four perfect innings last night as his dominance over the course of his career at Victory Field continued. In 22 career appearances (18 starts) at The Vic, he is 5-8 with a 1.86 ERA (20er/96.2ip) and 93 strikeouts. During his 2017 International League Most Valuable Pitcher campaign, his ERA at home was 0.84 (6er/64.0ip), the best by an Indians pitchers (min: 50.0ip) dating back to 2005.

START A NEW STREAK: Anthony Alford was back in Indy's starting lineup last night after going 0-for-5 on Wednesday, a performance that snapped his on-base streak at 25 games. Alford wasted little time to start a new streak as he singled off Pedro Payano in the first inning. Alford's 25-game on-base streak dated from June 1-July 20, and he hit .415 (34-for-82) with six home runs, seven doubles, 17 RBI, 20 runs scored, 21 walks, a .538 on-base percentage, .720 slugging percentage and 1.258 OPS.

CHRIS WITH A CRUSH: Chris Sharpe belted a long home run in the second inning last night, his fourth dinger of the year and first since June 16 vs. Memphis. Three of Sharpe's home runs have come at Victory Field, with the first coming on May 16 vs. Toledo. The Indians are 4-0 in games when Sharpe smacks a home run.

CLOSE CALLS: Last night's 2-1 score was the 17th time in 34 games at Victory Field where the game has been decided by one run. That total matches the number of the one-run games played at The Vic in 2019, and there are still 31 home contests left on the calendar. Indianapolis is 12-5 in those 17 one-run games at Victory Field, including a 5-1 mark against Toledo. The Indians have played 25 games decided by one run overall, tied for third most in the Triple-A East with Memphis (18-7), trailing only Charlotte (9-17) and Louisville (5-21) who have each played 26 one-run affairs.

THIS IS OUR HOUSE: The Indians' 2-1 win last night guaranteed an above-.500 record against Toledo at Victory Field for the 2021 season. Since 1988, Indy has finished over .500 against the Mud Hens in the Circle City 16 out of 27 seasons.

TONIGHT: After splitting a six-game set with Omaha, the Indians have now split the first four games of their six-game series with Toledo. With eight games to play in the season series, Indianapolis has a chance to go up five games (8-3) on the Mud Hens tonight and lengthen their already-clinched winning percentage against the former International League West Division rival at Victory Field. On the bump tonight, RHP Mitch Keller will face off against RHP Logan Shore. It will be Keller's first outing vs. the Mud Hens this season and the second for Shore, who went 4.1 one-run innings on May 14.

SLOWING DOWN STARTS: Mitch Keller takes the mound tonight for his sixth start in eight appearances with the Indians in 2021. He faced Omaha twice in the last series at Victory Field, registering 14 total strikeouts in 8.1 combined innings. Coming off his two highest strikeout contests in Triple-A this season, Keller is no stranger to sitting down Mud Hens batters. On June 7 at Toledo, Keller tossed 5.0 one-hit innings and set a new career high with 13 strikeouts.

WELCOME HOME: Indianapolis native and Cathedral High School grad (2011) Dillon Peters was activated on the Indians roster yesterday after being traded from Los Angeles (AL) to Pittsburgh and optioned on July 19. He was a standout prep in the Indianapolis area, registering a 29-2 record, sub-1.00 ERA (205.1ip) and 344 strikeouts during his first three high school seasons. He was the starting pitcher for Cathedral in both the 2010 and 2011 Indiana High School Athletic Association 4A Baseball State Finals at Victory Field. Peters is expected to pitch in relief during the homestand finale on Sunday.

INDY VS. 500: The series vs. Toledo marks the second of three consecutive for the Indians vs. opponents currently with a .500-plus record. Against teams with a winning record this season, the Indians are 10-15. Their last two matchups against winning teams came at Nashville (June 8-13) and vs. Omaha (last week); in those 12 games, Indianapolis went 6-6.

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