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Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (64-51) vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (70-45)

August 9, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians have won 12 of their last 16 games and seek their fifth three-game series sweep of the season tonight at The Vic.

Location: Victory Field

First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. EDT

Game #116 / Home #57: Indianapolis Indians (64-51) vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (70-45)

Probables: RHP Mitch Keller (0-2, 7.99) vs. RHP Tom Eshelman (2-10, 5.48)

Radio: Fox Sports 97.5 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV / Comcast 90 / WNDY 23

From the Notes

ABOUT YESTERDAY: Jason Martin grounded a single off IronPigs second baseman Jesmuel Valentin's glove into right field in the bottom of the ninth to score Eric Wood from third, giving the Indians a 4-3 walk-off win Wednesday afternoon. Wood had opened the inning with a double off Pedro Beato (L, 6-3) into the left-field corner and then advanced to third on a perfectly-placed sacrifice bunt by Alfredo Reyes. Kevin Newman was intentionally walked to get to Martin, who was mired in an 0-for-16 slump before the knock. Ryan Lavarnway gave Indy an early 2-0 lead with a two-out, opposite-field, two-run homer in the first off Drew Anderson. Pablo Reyes was along for the ride after doubling with two down. Former Indians OF Danny Ortiz got the best of Indy, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and and a game-tying homer in the fourth off Nick Kingham. His second double of the game off Damien Magnifico scored Ryan Goins to again knot the score at 3-3 in the eighth. Jerrick Suiter hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth which gave Indy a 3-2 advantage. Michael Feliz (W, 2-0) earned the win after facing the minimum in the top of the ninth.

MAKE IT HAPPEN, MITCH: Mitch Keller gets the nod for Indy tonight in his sixth career Triple-A start. The 22-year-old is winless through his first five outings with the Tribe but has shown glimpses of why he was Pittsburgh's No. 1 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline prior to the season. He has 14 strikeouts in two starts at The Vic, including a 10-K performance on 7/5 vs. LOU. In 20 starts between High-A (one start), Double-A (14 starts) and Triple-A (five starts) this season, he's 9-4 with a 3.80 ERA (48 ER/113.2 IP) and 108 strikeouts.

SWEEP STUFF: The Indians have won the first two games of their three-game set with Lehigh Valley, who entered the series with a league-best 70-43 record. Despite the two victories, Indy is still 6.0 games back of the IronPigs for the league's best record. Indianapolis has swept four different series this year, each of them being three-game sets (6/5-7 @ ROC, 6/19-21 vs. NOR, 6/25-27 @ TOL, 7/6-8 vs. COL). Lehigh Valley has only been swept once all season (5/15-17 @ SWB). In the head-to-head series dating back to 2008, Indy has swept the 'Pigs just once (3 games, 5/1-5/3/15 at Victory Field). The Tribe have been swept by the 'Pigs twice (4 games, 7/19-7/22/10 at Victory Field; 4 games, 5/15-5/18/12 at LHV).

SCORELESS STREAK SNAPPED: Damien Magnifico had his career-best scoreless streak of 19.1 innings snapped in the eighth last night. He walked Ryan Goins, who then raced around the bases for the tying run on a Danny Ortiz double to deep left-center. Magnifico's nine prior outings dating back to 7/5 were scoreless. The 19.1-inning scoreless streak is the longest by a Tribe pitcher in 2018 and longest since Edgar Santana had a 21.2-scoreless inning stretch from 4/11-5/21/17.

LIRANZO LIGHTS OUT: Jesus Liranzo has pitched multiple innings in four of his last six appearances out of the 'pen, including 2.0 shutout frames and three strikeouts last night. He has a 0.87 ERA (1 ER/10.1 IP) and 10 strikeouts over his last six outings. Liranzo has struck out at least one batter in 21 of his 25 appearances for the Tribe and owns a 1.80 ERA (3 ER/15.0 IP) and .100 batting average against (5-for-50) in 11 appearances at Victory Field.

RYAN ROLLING: Ryan Lavarnway celebrated his 31st birthday on Tuesday and gave himself a belated gift with a 3-for-4 performance last night, including his ninth homer of the season. Six of his nine long balls have come at Victory Field, five of which have gone out to right and right-center field. He's batting .341 in 25 home games compared to a .275 mark in 33 road contests. Lavarnway's .302 average for the season is the highest it's been since he had it at .303 on 6/20. He has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games, batting .426 (23-for-54) with four homers, five doubles, eight RBI and eight runs scored during that stretch, which dates back to 7/21.

NINE UP FOR MATHISEN: Wyatt Mathisen has hit safely in a season-high nine consecutive games dating back to 7/29 vs. BUF. During his hitting streak, he's batted .343 (12-for-35) with two homers, two doubles, 12 RBI and six runs scored. He's also walked twice and struck out just three times during the streak. The hot stretch has raised his average from .250 to .268, its highest point since it was at .271 on 7/15. His 3-hit performance Tuesday night matched a season high previously accomplished two other times (5/15 @ NOR, 5/28 @ CHA).

TWO OR LESS: Since 7/22 (18 games, 13-5 record), the Indians have had 13 games decided by two runs or less, going 9-4 in those contests. Indy was 19-22 in games decided by two or less prior to the recent stretch.

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