IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (53-59) at Louisville Bats (49-63)

September 12, 2021 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 1:00 PM ET

GAME #113 / Road #59: Indianapolis Indians (53-59) at Louisville Bats (49-63)

PROBABLES: RHP Max Kranick (3-4, 4.66) vs. RHP Hunter Greene (5-7, 4.26)

RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV

YESTERDAY: After leading early, the Indians lost in comeback fashion on a walk-off home run by Michael De Leon on Saturday afternoon, 5-4. They took a 3-0 lead in the third inning when five consecutive batters reached safely with one out. Phillip Evans, Bligh Madris and Ka'ai Tom each drove in runs with singles in the frame. Louisville tightened the contest to one run in the bottom half, led off with a solo home run by pitcher Michael Mariot. John Nogowski extended Indy's lead, 4-2, with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning, but two frames later the Bats tied the game following a throwing error by Matt Eckelman. With two outs, De Leon homered out to right field to give Louisville it's third win through five games in the series.

MAKE IT A DOZEN: Bligh Madris led the Indians offense yesterday with three hits: a double in the first inning and singles in the third and seventh. The performance extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games since Aug. 28, which is currently the longest active streak among Triple-A East batters. The streak surpassed Indy's previous team high of 10 games by Phillip Evans and Tucupita Marcano, and Madris' career high of nine games with Short-Season A West Virginia (8/2 (1)-11/17). Since Aug. 28, Madris is hitting .409 (18-for-44) with five extra-base hits, 10 RBI and a 1.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio (five strikeouts, five walks).

LA DOCENA: Also since Aug. 28, Tucupita Marcano is working a 12-game on-base streak. In that time frame, he has hit safely in 11 games with a .319 batting average (15-for-47) with seven walks. He began his tenure with the Indians with a 10-game hitting streak from July 30-Aug. 11 and has since found his groove again, going 4-for-12 with two doubles in his last three games. Four of the 12 games in his streak have been multi-hit performances.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Jared Oliva has hit safely in each of the first five games at Louisville this week, extending the streak with a double in his only at-bat after entering yesterday's game as a defensive replacement. This week continues an impressive stretch by Oliva in 35 games since being optioned by Pittsburgh at the end of July. Since playing in his first game back with the Indians on Aug. 3, he is hitting .315 (40-for-127) with 13 extra-base hits (nine doubles, two triples, two homers) and 21 RBI. Oliva began the regular season on the injured list with an oblique strain and struggled immediately after returning to game action. He hit just .167 (8-for-48) in his first 15 games but has since risen his Triple-A season average to .274 (48-for-175).

SEPTEMBER SLUGGERS: Five active Indians batters are hitting over .300 through the first 10 games in September. As a team, the Indians are hitting .259 (83-for-320). It is their second-highest average in the first 10 games of a month this season, following a Triple-A East-leading .295 clip (106-for-359) in August. All five of the Indians sluggers with averages over .300 this month are listed below:

Bligh Madris - 9 games, .438 (14-for-32), 4 R, 3 2B, 7 RBI, 1.017 OPS

Jared Oliva - 10 games, .343 (12-for-35), 6 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .978 OPS

Tucupita Marcano - 9 games, .324 (11-for-34), 6 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, .793 OPS

Phillip Evans - 4 games, .313 (5-for-16), 4 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, .764 OPS

Diego Castillo - 8 games, .308 (8-for-26), 9 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1.057 OPS

TODAY: The Indians will look to return to Victory Field with a series tie in the finale at Louisville today at 1:00 PM ET. The Bats clinched a season-series win with their victory last night and currently lead the season series, 10 games to seven. The Indians haven't finished below .500 against the Bats in the season series since 2016. In a rematch of Game 1 that fell in the Indians favor, RHP Max Kranick will face off against RHP Hunter Greene.

SPEED KILLS: The Indians have stolen 11 bases in 12 attempts through the first 10 games of September, which is tied for third among Triple-A East teams in that time frame. Indianapolis is currently averaging 1.2 stolen base attempts per game, which is an increase from August (0.93) when they went 18-for-25 in 27 games. The addition of Jared Oliva and Tucupita Marcano to the Indians everyday lineup since the beginning of August has helped the teams running game. Oliva is currently 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts with eight since he was optioned by Pittsburgh at the end of July. Marcano, on the other hand, is 6-for-7 in stolen base attempts in 36 games with the Indians after going 4-for-8 in 45 games with El Paso to begin the season.

FINAL SIX BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH: On Tuesday, Indianapolis begins a series with St. Paul for the final six games of the originally scheduled regular season. After going 29-29 in the first half, the Indians are currently six games under the .500 mark in the second half. Following the six-game series vs. St. Paul at Victory Field, the Indians will close out the season with 10-games tabbed the Triple-A Final Stretch.

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