IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (67-58) at Lehigh Valley IronPigs (75-50)

Published on August 19, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


The Indians and IronPigs conclude their four-game series this afternoon.

Location: Coca-Cola Park (Allentown, Pa.)

First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. EDT

Game #126 / Road #66: Indianapolis Indians (67-58) @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs (75-50)

Probables: RHP Nick Kingham (4-2, 3.24) vs. TBA

Radio: Fox Sports 97.5 / AM 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians and IronPigs split an unconventional doubleheader last night, with the IronPigs rallying for a 4-1 victory to complete Friday night's suspended affair while the Tribe won the nightcap in extra innings, defeating Lehigh Valley by a 5-1 margin in eight innings. Tyler Eppler (5.0ip, 5h, 3r, 3er, 2bb, 3k) suffered the loss in the suspended game. His counterpart Cole Irvin was outstanding in a winning effort (7.1ip, 2h, 0r, 2bb, 6k). Aaron Altherr and Danny Ortiz homered for the 'Pigs in the first contest. In the second game, the Indians led 1-0 thanks to an Eric Wood RBI single in the second inning and held that lead until Alex McRae gave up a Collin Cowgill run-scoring single up the middle in the sixth. Clay Holmes walked the tightrope in the seventh as the home team loaded the bases with one away, but the right-hander induced a game-saving double play ball to Jose Osuna at third. Osuna fired to the plate and Jacob Stallings then continued the relay onto Erich Weiss at first. The momentum carried into the eighth where the Indians scored four times, the go-ahead knock being a high chopper to third by Osuna with the bases juiced that made it 2-1. Stallings was then hit by pitch to force home another run, and Jerrick Suiter added two big insurance runs with a pinch-hit single into center.

ALL EVEN, 15 TO PLAY: With the Indians earning a split of last night's games with Lehigh Valley and the Clippers' 8-3 loss to Syracuse, both Indy and Columbus are tied atop the IL West standings with identical 67-58 records, 4.5 games ahead of Toledo who sits in third. The Tribe held a 4.5-game lead in the division last year with 15 games remaining and clinched the title with six games to spare. Indy will play 10 of its final 14 games this year at Victory Field; Columbus has a seven-game road trip to Indy (3 games) and Toledo (4 games) before closing the season with a seven-game homestand vs. Louisville (3 games) and Toledo (4 games).

A DOZEN LAST AT-BAT WINS: The Indians' four-run eighth in the second game last night gave them a dozen last at-bat victories in 2018; the Tribe had just seven such wins in 2017. Jose Osuna delivered his second last at-bat, go-ahead hit of the season with his RBI infield single to third; the other was an RBI infield single to short in the top of the seventh on July 27 vs. Buffalo, with Indy playing as the visiting team at Victory Field. Eric Wood has scored the winning run in each of Indy's last two last AB wins (Game 2 last night and Aug. 8 vs LHV on Jason Martin's walk-off single in a 4-3 win).

MMM, BACON: Last night's 5-1 victory clinched the season series for Indy over Lehigh Valley, just the fourth time in 11 seasons where the Tribe have won more games than lost to the IronPigs. Indy also won the season series over LHV in 2011 (5-3), 2014 (6-2) and 2015 (6-1).

NEVER SAY NEVER: Dovydas Neverauskas pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning in last night's 5-1 triumph. The Lithuanian has surrendered just one earned run in 16.0 innings pitched dating back to June 28 with Indy, good for a 0.56 ERA. He has racked up 17 strikeouts during that 12-game stretch. For the season, the 25-year-old has held IL batters to a .163 average (22-for-135) and owns a sparkling 1.31 ERA (6 ER/41.1 IP) in 31 appearances for the Tribe.

BY THE NUMBERS - .271 / .419: Indy leads the IL with a .271 team batting average, 10 points ahead of Durham. They are also tied for the lead in slugging percentage with Durham at .419. The .271 average and .419 slugging percentage would be the highest marks by a Tribe team since 2005 (.275, .440).

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International League Stories from August 19, 2018


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