IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (52-57) at Louisville Bats (47-62)

Published on September 9, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 6:30 PM ET

GAME #110 / Road #56: Indianapolis Indians (52-57) at Louisville Bats (47-62)

PROBABLES: RHP Tanner Anderson (2-2, 4.00) vs. RHP Riley O'Brien (6-6, 4.36)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: After the Indians took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off a two-out wild pitch by Reiver Sanmartin, the Bats offense boomed with three home runs to beat Indianapolis last night, 7-1. Mike Freeman and Narciso Crook hit back-to-back homers with no outs in the fifth inning, Freeman's to drive in three runs, to give Louisville a 5-1 lead. TJ Friedl followed with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the lead was extended in the eighth on a bases-loaded, one-out passed ball by Taylor Davis.

NO PUN IN-TEN-DED: Since Aug. 28, Bligh Madris owns a team-high tying 10-game hitting streak (also: Phillip Evans, Tucupita Marcano), extended last night with a seventh-inning single. The 10-game streak is also a career high for Madris (previous, 9 games with Short-Season A West Virginia; 8/2 (1)-11/17). In his current streak, he is hitting .389 (14-for-35) with a .556 slugging percentage and 1.006 OPS. He was named the Indians August Player of the Month on Friday and has since continued that success. In seven games so far in September, the Indians outfielder is tied for fifth among Triple-A East leaders with a .417 batting average (10-for-24). Since Aug. 1, Madris owns a .301 batting average (28-for-93) with 13 extra-base hits, 21 RBI and a 1.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio (15 walks, 17 strikeouts).

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: After beginning the season with Indianapolis hitting just .167 (8-for-48) in his first 15 games, Jared Oliva has since strung together an impressive last 32 games since being optioned by Pittsburgh at the end of July. Since Aug. 3, Oliva is hitting .305 (36-for-118) with 12 extra-base hits (eight doubles, two triples, two homers) and 20 RBI. Three of Oliva's four hits over the first two games at Louisville have been two-baggers, with him roping a ninth-inning double for the team's only extra-base hit of the game last night. Since Aug. 1, he trails only Bligh Madris (nine doubles, four home runs) for the most extra-base hits by an Indians slugger.

TONIGHT: The Indians will look to retake a lead in the series at Louisville tonight at 6:30 PM ET. The Indians had won four consecutive games vs. the Bats prior to losing last night's contest. Louisville currently leads the season series, eight games to six, after going 4-2 over the first six games at Louisville Slugger Field from June 22-27. The Indians haven't finished below .500 against the Bats in the season series since 2016 and will have to win three of the remaining four games between the two teams to continue that streak. RHP Tanner Anderson will make his second consecutive start for the Indians and his second outing against Louisville tonight. RHP Riley O'Brien will counter for the Bats after tossing five one-run innings on Aug. 27 at Victory Field.

DUTIES AS ASSIGNED: Tanner Anderson will make his second consecutive start with the Indians and third of the season tonight at Louisville. On Sept. 2, he was inserted as a spot starter for a second time this season (also: Aug. 4 (2) at Iowa). The right-hander eclipsed his season highs for innings pitched (3.0ip, Aug. 4 (2) at Iowa) and total pitches (39, June 6 with Las Vegas at Albuquerque) after tossing 3.2 innings and 79 pitches. He had not reached figures that high in either category since throwing 4.0 relief innings on Aug. 28, 2019 with Las Vegas at Albuquerque and 79 pitches on Aug. 11, 2019 with Las Vegas at Omaha.

STATE OF THE ROSTER: Sixty-nine different players have now appeared for Indianapolis, setting a new record in the Victory Field era with 20 games still to be played this season. Of the 69, 36 pitchers, five catchers, 17 infielders and 11 outfielders have appeared in an Indians uniform, with a handful of those coming on major league rehab assignments. Twelve members of the Indians Opening Day roster are currently active on the team, but only half of those have spent the entire season on Indy's roster while staying healthy. The newest additions to Indy's roster include infielder Diego Castillo and pitchers Connor Overton and Cam Alldred, the latter who made his Triple-A debut last night.

BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER: With 10 games remaining in the second half of the Triple-A East regular season, the Indians have tied their total number of stolen bases from the first half, 32. They went 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts through July 11 and are currently 32-for-44 after that date. A new experimental rule change expanded the size of bases in the Triple-A East for the first half of the season from 15 inches square to 18 inches, shortening the length of the basepaths. The Indians are five stolen bases away from their 2019 total of 69, which marked a Victory Field era low, and the lowest bases swiped by the team since 1971 (66).

THIS DATE IN INDIANS HISTORY: With the best-of-seven 1986 American Association Championship Series against Denver reaching Game 7, one of the most memorable moments in Indianapolis Indians franchise history came to life. Trailing 4-3 with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Indians first baseman Billy Moore lined a 2-2 fastball into left field to score Tom Romano and Casey Candaele. It was the first of four straight championships for the Indians.

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