IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (56-47) vs. Buffalo Bisons (46-53)

Published on July 28, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians have won four of their first five games to begin the eight-game homestand. They face former Indians hurler Brandon Cumpton this evening.

Location: Victory Field

First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET

Game #104 / Home #53: Indianapolis Indians (56-47) vs. Buffalo Bisons (46-53)

Probables: RHP Mitch Keller (0-1, 10.66) vs. RHP Brandon Cumpton (2-1, 5.73)

Radio: Fox Sports 97.5 / AM 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV / Comcast 90

From the Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians scored three runs in the sixth inning of Game 1 and another three runs in both the sixth and seventh frames of Game 2 to rally for 4-3 and 6-3 victories over the Bisons last night, sweeping the doubleheader. Wyatt Mathisen hit a tiebreaking two-run blast during Indy's sixth-inning spark in the opener, and Dovydas Neverauskas stranded the bases loaded in the seventh to nail down his fourth save. Tyler Eppler benefitted from the rally, improving to 10-5 on the season while upping his home record to a perfect 7-0 in 2018. He allowed three runs on seven hits in 6.0-plus innings pitched. In the nightcap, Mathisen was beaned by Tim Mayza with the bases full in the sixth, forcing home the tying run. Jose Osuna then smacked a sharp grounder off Mayza's foot and shortstop Richard Urena's glove into shallow left, bringing home Austin Meadows from second for the winning run. Christopher Bostick added an RBI double and Jason Martin capped the frame with a triple to the alley in left-center.

LET'S TAKE TWO: The Indians' sweep of last night's doubleheader was their first doubleheader sweep of 2018 and fourth since the start of the 2017 campaign. Indy's previous twin bill sweep prior to last night was on June 15, 2017 at Norfolk.

A GIFT FROM AFRICA: Gift Ngoepe is expected to be activated from Buffalo's disabled list tonight. The infielder played for the Tribe from 2015-17, totaling 200 games across three seasons. He appeared on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays multiple times in a Tribe uniform, even reaching as high as the No. 3 play following an acrobatic catch on July 14 last summer. Ngoepe made his MLB debut with the Pirates last April, becoming the first South African to play Major League Baseball. As part of Indy's "Prospects Nights" series at the ballpark this year, where the Tribe wear Pirates-themed uniforms and give away a player bobblehead (Steven Brault - May 5, Josh Bell - June 2), Ngoepe's bobblehead will be given away to the first 2,500 fans through Victory Field's gates tonight.

QUALITY STUFF: Brandon Waddell (6.0ip, 1er), J.T. Brubaker (7.0ip, 1er) and Clay Holmes (7.0ip, 0er) combined for a 0.90 ERA in the three-game series against the Red Wings. Indy had not recorded three consecutive quality starts this season up until Holmes completed the feat Thursday night. Then last night, both Tyler Eppler (6.0ip, 3er) and Casey Sadler (7.0ip, 3er) tossed quality starts, giving the roation a perfect 5-for-5 quality start stretch. The Indians' last stretch of five-plus quality starts was a six-game run from Aug. 20-25, 2017. Drew Hutchison (6.0ip, 1er), Nick Kingham (8.2ip, 1er), Tyler Glasnow (6.0ip, 3er), Tyler Eppler (7.0ip, 1er), Clay Holmes (6.0ip, 0er) and Hutchison (7.0ip, 0er) combined for that dominate run against Syracuse, Louisville and Columbus.

OSUNA RECALLED, STALLINGS RETURNS: Jose Osuna was recalled by the Pirates today while catcher Jacob Stallings joined the Indians. Osuna, 25, hit .317 (71-for-224) with five homers, 24 doubles and 40 RBI in 61 games with the Tribe. He swiped a stolen base in both ends of last night's twin bill. Stallings, 28, has hit .293 (49-for-167) in 44 games with Indy, logging one dinger, 15 doubles and 26 RBI. He is just 2-for-13 with Pittsburgh this season.

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics



International League Stories from July 28, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central