IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (42-39) at Louisville Bats (30-53)

Published on July 2, 2019 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians seek another series win over the Bats this evening in Kentucky.

LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:00 p.m. ET

GAME #82 / ROAD #43: Indianapolis Indians (42-39) at Louisville Bats (30-53)

PROBABLES: RHP Alex McRae (5-4, 5.07) vs. RHP Tejay Antone (1-1, 7.94)

RADIO: Fox Sports 97.5 / AM 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians snapped a season-high, five-game losing streak with a 7-6 comeback victory last night over the Bats. The Tribe offense went without a hit until Jake Elmore singled to open the sixth, but a double play quickly erased that threat and left Indy facing a 3-0 deficit. The game turned in the seventh, however, as Kevin Kramer doubled with one away and scored on a wild pitch and throwing error all in one play. Trayvon Robinson then delivered a pinch-hit, two-run homer to right to make it 3-3. Louisville regained the lead, 4-3, thanks to a leadoff triple after the stretch, but Indy countered with a four-run eighth -- three coming on Will Craig's 17th homer of the year. The Tribe bullpen gave up single runs in the eighth and ninth but hung on for the one-run comeback win, Indy's 20th comeback victory on the season. Geoff Hartlieb (W, 2-0) earned the win with two innings of one-run ball in relief. Blake Weiman (S, 1) recorded the final five outs for his first career Triple-A save.

ALIVE AND WELL: In the first 33 innings of the road trip, Indy's offense had scored a total of six runs on 22 hits while going 4-for-17 with RISP. Then in the final three frames last night, the offense awoke with seven runs on five hits while going 3-for-5 with RISP. Indy's seven-run output was its highest run total since its most recent victory, an 8-3 triumph over Louisville on June 25 at Victory Field.

A FRESH START: Indy posted a 10-19 record in the month of June but got off on the right foot Monday night with its 7-6 win at Louisville, improving the Indians' record in one-run ballgames to 16-11. Charlotte (17-9) and Durham (16-9) are the only other teams in the International League with at least 16 wins by one run this season. Indy also improved to 6-0 in games played on Monday.

PINCH-HIT BLAST: Trayvon Robinson delivered a two-run, game-tying, pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning last night to spark Indy to the comeback victory. The pinch-hit dinger was the first by a Tribe player since Wyatt Mathisen hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning on May 10, 2018 at Louisville -- an Indians 7-1 victory. The pinch-hit home run was the second of Robinson's professional career, with the other coming on June 21, 2015 with Triple-A Reno at Sacramento. His 2015 pinch-hit home run was a solo blast that also tied the game between the Aces and River Cats at 2-2, and Reno scored another run in the seventh to win the contest, 3-2.

WEIMAN GETS THE SAVE: Blake Weiman nailed down his first career Triple-A save last night, the ninth overall save in his career in 13 opportunities and third of the season in as many attempts (also had two with Double-A Altoona). Weiman is the 11th different Tribe pitcher with at least one save this season, and Indy leads the league with 29 saves converted, two ahead of Charlotte. Twelve different pitchers converted at least one save for the Tribe in 2018.

BEST THE BATS: The Indians have an 11-5 record against the Bats this season, including a 6-1 mark at Louisville Slugger Field. The two IL West foes meet six more times this season, meaning the Indians need just one more win to secure the season series advantage for just the third time since 2005 when Indianapolis became the Triple-A affiliate of the Pirates. Indy also won the season series over Louisville in 2012 (18-4) and 2017 (15-8) and lead the all-time series 217-207 (.512) dating back to 1998.

NOT THE COLE WE KNOW: Cole Tucker is batting .299 (41-for-137) with 16 XBH and 14 RBI in 32 games for Indy, but he's gone 0-for-4 in each of his last two contests. The 22-year-old has only gone hitless in consecutive games with the Indians one other time, doing so in the season-opening series on April 6-7 at Columbus. Tucker followed that two-game hitless stretch with hits in 10 of his next 11 games, including multi-hit performances in four of the first six ballgames.

SET THE (AN)TONE: Tucker is a strong candidate for a bounceback performance at the plate tonight with RHP Tejay Antone starting for Louisville. Last Tuesday at The Vic against Antone and the Bats, Tucker tallied three hits in four at-bats vs. Antone, including a pair of doubles. The Tribe recorded 12 hits in 28 total at-bats against Antone and added one walk and one hit batter for good measure. In total, Indy put a runner on base in 14 of the 30 plate appearances with Antone on the bump.

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International League Stories from July 2, 2019


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