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IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (4-2) at St. Paul Saints (5-1)

April 12, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: CHS Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:37 PM ET

GAME #7 / Road #1: Indianapolis Indians (4-2) at St. Paul Saints (5-1)

PROBABLES: RHP Beau Sulser (0-1, 7.36) vs. RHP Daniel Gossett (0-0, 7.36)

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

TV: MiLB TV

ABOUT SUNDAY AFTERNOON: Behind three extra-base hits from cleanup hitter Mason Martin, the Indians clinched a series win in Sunday afternoon's finale over Omaha, 7-2. Facing a 1-0 deficit following a solo home run by MJ Melendez, Martin launched his own solo dinger in the bottom half to tie the game, 1-1. The offensive momentum then carried into the fifth inning when nine Indians batters came to the plate. Indy took a 5-1 lead after a bases-loaded walk to Rodolfo Castro, a two-run double by Mason Martin and RBI single by Hunter Owen. The offense as a whole exploded for six extra-base hits, with doubles by Canaan Smith-Njigba, Bligh Madris and Brendt Citta joining Martin's pair of two-baggers and home run.

WINNING THE WEEK: On Sunday, the Indians clinched their first season-opening series victory since taking two-of-three from Columbus at Victory Field in 2018. In 2021, the Indians began the season strong at home and notched series wins against Toledo, Columbus and Memphis en route to a 16-5 home record through July 1. They went 5-9-8 (W-L-S) in the first season of six-game series in their new 20-team league, with a 3-3-5 record at home.

MARTIN MASHING: Mason Martin went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI to lead the Indians to a series-clinching win over Omaha on Sunday. It was his third career performance with three extra-base hits, with the most recent coming on June 30, 2019 vs. Single-A West Virginia. He tied the game with his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning, and smacked a two-run, two-out double to score Canaan Smith-Njigba and Oneil Cruz in the fifth. Through five games to begin the season, Martin owns a .368 average (7-for-19) and ranks among league leaders with five extra-base hits (T-3rd), three doubles (T-4th), a .789 slugging percentage (7th) and 1.189 OPS (10th). In 13 career Triple-A games dating back to last season, the hard-hitting first baseman owns a .295 batting average (13-for-44), eight extra-base hits and 10 RBI. In 2021, he led all Pirates minor leaguers with 25 home runs between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis.

PITCHING POWER: The Indians pitching staff cliched a series win with three consecutive victories of allowing no more than two earned runs over the weekend. Over the past three games, the Indians rank first among all 20 International League teams with a 1.33 ERA (4er/27.0ip) after giving up 13 earned runs in 23.0 innings during the first three games of the series. Brad Case, Cristofer Melendez, Hunter Stratton and Evansville, Ind. native Jerad Eickhoff each recorded wins in the six-game series with just one earned run surrendered between the four of them.

WELCOME HOME: RHP Jerad Eickhoff earned the win in his Indians debut on Sunday vs. Omaha. He entered the game in relief of starter Osvaldo Bido and surrendered one earned run on three hits in 3.2 innings. In 46 career Triple-A games (44 starts) dating back to 2015, Eickhoff is 24-8 with a 4.15 ERA (112er/242.2ip) and 219 strikeouts. The 31-year-old is a graduate of Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Ind. where he played baseball and basketball. He was signed by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent on Nov. 28, 2021.

BLIGH IS BACK: Indy's 2021 Rookie of the Year, OF Bligh Madris, made his season debut for the Indians on Saturday night and has hit doubles in each of his two games since returning to the lineup. Last season, he tied for the team lead (also: Chris Sharpe) with 25 doubles. Dating back to Aug. 27, 2021 when he began a 26-game on-base streak to end the season, Madris has reached base safely in 28 consecutive Triple-A games. The 26-year-old earned his first non-roster invite to the Pirates camp in March and slashed .368/.429/.947 in 14 games. He spent the majority of 2021 in Triple-A and hit .272 (91-for-334) with a team-high tying 25 doubles, nine home runs and 55 RBI in 104 games.

MITCHELL MASHING: Cal Mitchell had his four-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday with an 0-for-3 showing, but extended his RBI streak to five games with a first-inning sacrifice fly to cap a three-run frame. In 2021, Christian Bethancourt and Colin Moran each had team-high RBI streaks of five games. The RBI streak is his longest to begin a season since being selected by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. Mitchell, who entered the season rated as Pittsburgh's No. 32 prospect by Baseball America, was first promoted to Indianapolis from Altoona on Sept. 20, 2021 and went 5-for-20 with a double and RBI in seven Triple-A games. He launched 12 home runs in 108 games with Altoona and ended the season ranked among Double-A Northeast leaders with 107 total hits (4th), a .280 batting average (8th) and 61 RBI (9th).

BAE ON BASE: Ji-Hwan Bae extended his hitting streak to five games to begin his Triple-A career on Saturday with a three-hit performance. Bae reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances to improve his on-base percentage to .500 and scored two of the Indians' seven runs in the win. Through just 17 at-bats, Bae is hitting .444 (4-for-9) against right-handed pitchers and .375 (3-for-8) vs. lefties. His five-game hitting streak is his longest to begin a season since being signed by the Pirates as a non-drafted free agent. Rated as Pittsburgh's No. 25 prospect by Baseball America, the South Korea native spent the majority of the 2021 season with Altoona and hit .278 (89-for-320) in 83 games. He ranked among Pirates farmhands in triples (T-4th, 5), stolen bases (T-5th, 20), runs (T-7th, 66) and average (7th, .281).

TONIGHT: The Indians ended their first homestand with a 4-2 series win over Omaha after emerging victorious in the final three contests of the six-game series. They will look to build on that momentum tonight in St. Paul as they begin their first road trip of the 2022 season. Last year, Indianapolis' second road trip began with six games in St. Paul and they went 4-2 with three consecutive wins from 5/20-22. In 12 games at CHS Field, the Indians went 7-5 with a 5-7 record vs. the Saints at Victory Field. RHP Beau Sulser and RHP Daniel Gossett will face off to begin the series tonight at 7:37 PM ET.

THIS DATE IN 2019: For the second straight day, left fielder Trayvon Robinson finished the game with four hits en route to two Indy victories over Charlotte. He topped his 4-for-4 performance on April 11 with four extra-base hits in the second game of the series. With two doubles and two triples, he was the first Indy player to hit two triples in a game since Willy Garcia on April 27, 2016. That wasn't the first feat matched in the game either, as first baseman Will Craig stole home as part of a double steal, marking the first time an Indy player swiped home since Eury Perez on July 17, 2017.

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