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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (56-57) at Norfolk Tides (45-68)

August 7, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Harbor Park

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 p.m. ET

GAME #114 / ROAD #58: Indianapolis Indians (56-57) at Norfolk Tides (45-68)

PROBABLES: RHP Mitch Keller (7-5, 3.56) vs. LHP Ty Blach (3-4, 5.93)

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

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians suffered their fourth straight loss on Tuesday night, falling 8-1 in the road trip opener at Norfolk. Indy's pitching staff issued 10 walks, hit three batters and yielded 11 hits as the Tribe fell below .500 for the first time since they were 48-49 on July 19. The Indians scored the game's first run in the second inning. Will Craig hit a leadoff double and later touched home on a Trayvon Robinson single, but the Tribe offense went cold afterwards. Indy left a total of 12 runners on base and went 3-for-12 with RISP. Norfolk gained control in the middle third of the contest, scoring one, four and three in consecutive frames from the fourth through the sixth to run away with the win. Sean Keselica (L, 1-6) suffered the loss after giving up four earned runs on one hit and four walks in 0.1 innings pitched. Jason Martin led the offense by going 3-for-4 from the seventh spot in the order, and Jake Elmore finished 2-for-5 to lift his average to .344.

SCORING FIRST: The Tribe have scored first in seven consecutive games but have lost each of the last four contests when doing so, dropping their season record when scoring first to 39-14. Indy has scored first in 16 of its 25 games since the All-Star break, compiling an 11-5 record in those games. Indy's .736 winning percentage for the season in those games is the best in the International League and makes them one of just four teams in the league with a clip over .700, joining Rochester (39-15, .722), Columbus (46-18, .719) and Scranton/WB (43-18, .705). Indy has only scored first in 53 of its 113 games thus far, second fewest in the league only Lehigh Valley, who has scored first in 46 of its 112 games.

MOUND VISIT: After being claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh from Philadelphia on August 3, Yacksel Rios made his Pirates organization debut last night in the eighth inning. He put up a zero, surrendered one hit and struck out a pair. Rios is the 34th different player to take the mound for the Tribe this season, tied for the second most this century (also: 2009) and one off the franchise record of 35 players to have pitched for Indy in 2013.

FACING THE SOUTH: The Indians are 12-14 against IL South teams with only five games remaining this road trip. Indy went 14-19 against the IL South last year and is in danger of suffering back-to-back sub-.500 campaigns against the South Division for the first time since 2003 and 2004 (22-26 both years). From 2005-17, the Tribe finished at or above .500 every season against the South.

SINCE THE BREAK: Three active Indians have fared well at the plate since the All-Star break -- each batting over .317 -- while three others have scuffled out of the break with averages below .215. Jake Elmore (.333, 27-for-81), Hunter Owen (.324, 12-for-37) and Jason Martin (.317, 26-for-82) are leading the offense in the second half, but Cole Tucker (.215, 20-for-93), Steven Baron (.207, 6-for-29) and Christian Kelley (.113, 6-for-53) have struggled mightily.

OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT: Indy's offense in the second half is outperforming its pre All-Star break numbers. The Tribe are averaging 4.88 runs per game (122 R in 25 G), 8.96 hits per game (224 H in 25 G) and 1.28 homers per game (32 HR in 25 G). In the first half, Indy's offense averaged 4.50 runs per game (396 R in 88 G), 8.44 hits per game (743 H in 88 G) and 0.99 homers per game (87 HR in 88 G).

WELL THAT'S FRUSTRATING: The Indians squandered three different bases-loaded scoring chances last night. In the third, seventh and eighth innings, the Tribe had the bases full with only one out but came up empty each time. They struck out in four of the five plate appearances with the bases loaded and flew into an inning-ending double play in their final chance.

J-MART STREAKING: Jason Martin has hit safely in eight straight games going back to July 29, batting .424 (14-for-33) with four doubles, four RBI and three runs scored during the stretch. He also had an eight-game hitting streak from July 14-23. Martin is riding a 12-game hitting streak at Victory Field dating back to July 6. It is the longest home hitting streak for a Tribe player this year and longest since Kevin Newman had a 12-game home hitting streak from April 23-May 24, 2018. Martin has hit .305 (25-for-82) with two homers, seven doubles, 12 RBI, 10 runs scored and a .356 OBP in his last 12 games at home.

CRAIG BITS: Will Craig has hit safely in nine of his last 10, 11 of his last 13 and 16 of his last 20 games dating back to July 14. Since that date, he's hit .306 (26-for-85) with four homers, six doubles, 13 RBI, five walks and 29 strikeouts. Craig has nine multi-hit performances since July 14 and is tied for the team lead in multi-hit games with Jake Elmore at 26. On the flip side, Craig leads the team with 120 strikeouts, tied for eighth most in the IL with Columbus' Eric Haase. Craig has struck out at least once in 10 straight games, the second-longest streak of his career behind a 12-game stretch that ran from April 5-20, 2018 with Altoona.

WILL POWER: Will Craig's first-inning HR off Shao-Ching Chiang on Sunday was his 21st of the season, eclipsing his previous career high of 20 set in 2018 with Double-A Altoona. Craig's 21 HRs are the most by a Tribe player in a single season since Brandon Moss hit 22 in 2010. Craig also has a team-leading 63 RBI, which is the most in a season by a Tribe player since Danny Ortiz had 63 in 2017. With another RBI, Craig will have the most RBI in a season by a Tribe player since Matt Hague had 66 in 2014.

LINE DRIVE ELMORE: Jake Elmore rebounded to go 2-for-5 last night after going just 2-for-15 with 14 runners left on base in the three-game series against Columbus. The journeyman is hitting a league-best .344 (95-for-276) and ranks fourth in on-base percentage (.405). Indy's last batting champion was Junior Noboa (.340) in 1989 and they have had just four batting titles since 1969 (also: Bernie Carbo in 1969, Gene Locklear in 1972, Dallas Williams in 1987).

THE STAFF: Indy's pitching staff has racked up 1,021 strikeouts through 113 games (9.04 K/game) and are on pace for 1,265 strikeouts for the season, which would easily exceed the current franchise record of 1,153 set in 2013 (records for this stat go back to 1902). Indy's current strikeout total is sixth in the IL. The Indians lead the IL in saves converted (36) and batting average against (.255) and have given up the second-fewest home runs in the league (127). The 127 long balls surrendered are the most in a season for Indy since giving up a franchise-record 145 homers in 2005 (records for this stat go back to 1953).

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