Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (58-64) at Omaha Storm Chasers (68-55)
September 25, 2021 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
LOCATION: Werner Park
FIRST PITCH: 8:05 PM ET
GAME #123 / Road #63: Indianapolis Indians (58-64) at Omaha Storm Chasers (68-55)
PROBABLES: RHP Beau Sulser (7-7, 4.81) vs. RHP Ronald Bolanos (0-3, 6.32)
RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / Fox Sports 1260 / iHeart app
TV: MiLB TV
LAST NIGHT: The Indians newly-promoted prospects Mason Martin, Rodolfo Castro and Oneil Cruz combined for four home runs and seven of the team's runs batted in in a 9-8 win over Omaha last night. The Indians put up five runs on the board in the first inning, capped by a three-run shot for Martin's first long ball in Triple-A and first of the night. Cruz followed with a solo homer in the second inning to extend the lead, 6-0, but Omaha chipped away at the lead with back-to-back home runs by Bobby Witt Jr. and Nick Pratto in the third. With Cruz on base in the fourth inning, the Indians continued their parade of prospect home runs as Rodolfo Castro homered to center field for his third dinger in two games. Martin then homered again in the top of the fifth inning to cap Indy's scoring at nine runs. Trailing 9-5, the Storm Chasers attempted a comeback with three runs in the ninth but fell just short of scoring the tying run.
MARTIN MASHES: Mason Martin recorded his four two-homer game of the season and first with Indianapolis last night. Martin went yard in the first inning with a three-run shot crushed over the right-field berm for his first Triple-A home run since being promoted from Double-A Altoona on Monday. He sent another towering fly ball to the same spot of the ballpark in the fifth, capping off a four-RBI day. Rated as Pittsburgh's No. 17 prospect (MLB Pipeline) at the time of his promotion to Indianapolis, Martin ended his campaign with Altoona tied for fourth among Double-A Northeast leaders with 22 home runs. He also finished among league sluggers in RBI (2nd, 75), total bases (2nd, 199), XBH (T-2nd, 53), home runs (T-4th, 22), doubles (T-4th, 29), hits (8th, 100) and runs scored (10th, 62).
HE'S GOT THE POWER: Pittsburgh's No. 25 prospect, Rodolfo Castro, homered last night in the fourth inning to extend his total to three home runs in his last two games at Omaha. Castro made his Triple-A debut on Wednesday night and went 1-for-4 with a double. The 22-year-old infielder made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh on April 21 this season and had a longer major league stint from July 6-Aug. 21. He hit .198 (17-for-86) with five home runs and eight RBI. Castro played the majority of the season with Double-A Altoona and hit .242 (69-for-285) with 12 home runs, 14 doubles and 47 RBI in 72 games.
ROLLER COASTER LUMBER CO: The Indians now lead the Triple-A Final Stretch with eight home runs in three games. Seven of those home runs have come off the bats of Oneil Cruz (PIT No. 3/MiLB No. 54; MLB Pipeline), Mason Martin (PIT No. 17) and Rodolfo Castro (No. 25), who were all promoted from Double-A Altoona on Monday. Castro leads the pack with three home runs after hitting two on Friday night. Cruz and Martin have two apiece, with Cruz hitting one in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday and Martin launching a pair last night. They combined for all four of the Indians home runs at Omaha last night, which marks the first time this season that they all homered in the same game.
LOOKIN' GOOD, FEELIN' GOOD: With two hits last night, Christian Bethancourt extended his hitting streak to five games dating back to Sept. 3, interrupted by a stint on the IL. He went 2-for-5 last night and has combined for four RBI in his last two games since being activated from the injured list on Wednesday. During his hitting streak, Bethancourt is hitting .474 (9-for-19) with a .737 slugging percentage and 1.261 OPS. In 87 games with the Indians this season, he owns a .277 batting average (87-for-314) with 18 doubles, 11 home runs and 53 RBI.
BLIGH ON BASE: With a double last night, Bligh Madris extended his on-base streak to 22 games dating back to Aug. 27. During that time frame he notched a team-high 15-game hitting streak from Aug. 28-Sept. 15, the longest of his career. Since Aug. 27, Madris is hitting .313 (26-for-83) with a .376 on-base percentage and .846 OPS. It is the second longest on-base streak by an Indians player this season, trailing Anthony Alford's 25 games from June 1-July 20. During that stretch, Alford hit .415 (34-for-82) with a .538 on-base percentage and 1.258 OPS.
TONIGHT: The Indians will look to tie the series with Omaha tonight at 8:05 PM ET. With a win, the Indians would move to .500 in the Triple-A Final Stretch after dropping the first two games. Their 2021 campaign concludes with two more games at Omaha (Sept. 25-26) and five vs. Nashville (Sept. 29-Oct. 3). The last time the Indians visited Werner Park (May 25-30), they entered the series with a one-game lead in the Triple-A East Midwest Division and were swept in the six-game set. RHP Beau Sulser will take the mound after earning the win with a quality start on Sept. 19 vs. St. Paul. RHP Ronald Bolanos gets the ball for the Storm Chasers after he fanned eight batters in five one-run innings vs. Indy on May 27.
COUNTING THE QUALITY STARTS: Beau Sulser is set to make his league-leading 23rd start this season after tossing his team-leading fifth quality start on Sept. 19 to earn the win vs. St. Paul. He allowed three runs (two earned) in 6.0 innings as the Indians backed him with 10 runs before his day was officially over. The performance lowered his ERA to 4.81 (62er/116.0ip) on the season, which ranks 10th among Triple-A East league leaders. In his first year as a full-time starter, Sulser also ranks fourth among league leaders in innings pitched and 10th in win percentage (.500).
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