IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (65-73) at Louisville Bats (58-80)

September 1, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Louisville Slugger Field

FIRST PITCH: 6:00 p.m. ET

GAME #139 / ROAD #69: Indianapolis Indians (65-73) at Louisville Bats (58-80)

PROBABLES: RHP Alex McRae (7-7, 5.00) vs. RHP Tejay Antone (3-8, 4.87)

RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / AM 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV

LAST NIGHT: The Indians and Clippers were tied 1-1 up until the fifth, when Eric Stamets hit a sacrifice fly to give the IL West champions the lead for good. The visitors added three more runs in the sixth off Cody Ponce and Matt Eckelman to blow the game open. Indy's lone run came in the second inning. Kevin Kramer singled and took second on a throwing error and later advanced to third on another error by Columbus. The second miscue prolonged the inning for Eric Wood, who lined an RBI single into right-center with two away. Ponce (L, 1-3) gave up five earned runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched, his longest start in a Tribe uniform.

SLIPPING AWAY: UTIL Jake Elmore has gone 2-for-19 (.105) in his last six games to drop his average to .330 (118-for-358), well behind Durham's Jake Cronenworth (.340). Before his drought, he had hit safely in eight of 10 games and 18 of 21 with seven multi-hit contests. His average for August now sits at .278 (30-for-108), his lowest monthly average of the season (previous, .297 in June). Indy's last batting champion was Junior Noboa (.340) in 1989 and they have had just four batting titles since 1969 (Bernie Carbo in 1969, Gene Locklear in 1972, Dallas Williams in 1987).

14,883: Last night's attendance of 14,883 closed out the Victory Field home schedule for the 2019 season, and lifted Indy's total attendance to 586,860 (8,630 average). Indy will finish second in the IL in both total and average attendance, trailing only Columbus (590,504 total; 8,684 average). The sellout crowd was Indy's second of the season, with the other being 14,436 on July 4 vs. Toledo. The 14,883 figure was the third-largest crowd at Victory Field in the last three seasons; Indy had an attendance of 15,006 on July 15, 2017 vs. Louisville and 15,142 on July 29, 2017 vs. Pawtucket.

SAYONARA, VIC: The Indians lost for the fifth time in their last six home games with last night's defeat, and they finished with a meager 2-10 mark at home against Columbus. Indy's 32-38 home record is its worst since Victory Field opened in 1996, with the only other home losing campaigns coming in 2002 (35-38) and 2003 (35-37). The Tribe peaked with a 17-10 home record on May 31, but they finished 15-28 in their last 43 home affairs.

AUGUST HEAT: Last night's defeat closed Indy's August with a 10-20 record, the worst August for the Indians since The Vic opened in '96; the previous worst was 12-17, a record reached (1998, 2001, 2010, 2016, 2018). Last year, the Tribe finished 12-17 in August, leaving them with a 21-36 record (.368) in the past two Augusts combined.

37: LHP Elvis Escobar was transferred from Double-A Altoona yesterday and made his Triple-A debut last night, throwing two scoreless innings in relief. Escobar allowed one hit and two walks with two strikeouts while becoming the 37th different pitcher used by Indianapolis this season, a franchise record.

COTUCK: Cole Tucker has hit safely in his last six games (.273, 6-for-22) and 15 of his last 17 to hold his average steady at .265 (81-for-306). He has two doubles and two triples during his current hitting streak, and in the 17-game stretch, he has seven extra-base hits, four RBI and 11 runs scored. 13 of his 51 total runs scored this season have come in the first inning and 32 have come in the fourth inning or earlier.

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