Sports stats



IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (7-11) at Memphis Redbirds (13-5)

April 21, 2023 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: AutoZone Park

FIRST PITCH: 8:05 PM ET

GAME #19 / ROAD #10: Indianapolis Indians (7-11) at Memphis Redbirds (13-5)

PROBABLES: RHP Quinn Priester (1-1, 6.08) vs. RHP James Naile (2-0, 0.93)

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

TV: Bally Live app / MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Despite top prospect Endy Rodríguez's team-leading third home run of the season, the Indianapolis Indians dropped their third straight game to the Memphis Redbirds on Thursday night at AutoZone Park, 6-1. The Indians were in control through the front four innings, thanks to a strong start from left-hander Caleb Smith in his first start since coming off the 7-day injured list. Smith was perfect through his first three innings and didn't allow a hit through his first four. Rodríguez supplied the Indians' early, and only, offense with a solo home run against Redbirds starter Connor Thomas. The Redbirds flipped the game in the bottom of the fifth against Smith thanks to a two-run homer from third basemen Juniel Querecuto. Memphis struck for three more in the sixth highlighted by a two-run single from center field Óscar Mercado, and one more in the seventh on an RBI double from right fielder Juan Yepez.

CAL IS STREAKIN': Cal Mitchell extended his hitting streak to five games on Thursday night, which is currently the longest active hitting of any Indians hitter. During the streak, he is hitting .286 (6-for-21) with two runs scored, two doubles and four RBI. In 2022, his 13-game hitting streak (7/7-8/17) was the longest of any Indians hitter. During that stretch, he hit .327 (16-for-49) with six runs scored, four doubles, a triple, home run and seven RBI.

ENDY GOES YARD: Endy Rodríguez blasted his team-leading third home run of the season on Thursday night. Last night's homer was the switch-hitting catchers' first long ball of the season as a right-handed hitter, with his two previous homers coming at Victory Field from the left side of the plate. Since April 7, he is hitting .310 (13-for-42) with a triple, two home runs, seven RBI and .375 on-base percentage. The 22-year-old is coming off a season where he collected 68 extra-base hits among High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis - which tied for the eighth-most in all of minor league baseball. His 39 doubles and 25 home runs were career highs and his four triples were second only to the six he had with Single-A Bradenton in 2021.

SHACKELFORD SLUGGING: After beginning the season 1-for-13 through his first six games, Shackleford has heated up as of late while hitting .364 (8-for-22) in his last six games. He went 1-for-3 yesterday and collected two hits on Wednesday afternoon, including a double for his third time in four games. On Tuesday, he logged a season-high three hits, his most since going 3-for-3 on Aug. 7, 2022 with Double-A Altoona vs. Akron. He has hit safely in five of his past six games. Despite a slow start to hitting, the 26-year-old has reached base safely in 11 of 12 total games played after taking at least one walk in each of his first six games.

K'S FOR DAYS: Indianapolis' pitching staff leads all of professional baseball in strikeouts (193). Indians' pitchers have recorded double-digit strikeouts in 13 of their 18 games. On Wednesday, J.C. Flowers (5), Hunter Stratton (3) and Daniel Zamora (1) combined to strike out nine consecutive Redbirds. The pitching staff recorded 16 and 17 strikeouts in the final two games of its series against St. Paul, respectively, to mark the first time Indy has racked up 16-plus strikeouts in consecutive games dating back to 2005. The team's 17 strikeouts on Sunday were the most since punching out 18 on April 27, 2019 at Charlotte. Luis Ortiz leads the team with 18, followed by Quinn Priester (17), Osvaldo Bido (15) and Yohan Ramirez (14).

TRIP TRIP TRIPLES: Tyler Heineman ripped a two-run triple in the top of the third of Wednesday afternoons contest, and it was his first triple since June 26, 2019 with Triple-A New Orleans. With Heinemans triple, the Indians have now tallied eight three-baggers total this season. Indy leads the International League in triples and ranks tied for second in professional baseball with the Salt Lake Bees, trailing only the Reno Aces (10). Nick Gonzales and Travis Swaggerty lead the team in triples with two apiece and are also tied for the most triples in the IL alongside five others. Indy has now had a triple in four of its last six games. The Indians led the IL in triples in 2022 with 44, led by Swaggerty (8) and Ji Hwan Bae (6). The team clubbed 26 of its 44 triples last season at Victory Field.

TONIGHT: The Indians and Redbirds will play the fourth contest of their six-game series tonight at 8:05 PM ET at AutoZone Park after Memphis took the first three games of the six-game series. Indianapolis and Memphis split a pair of six-game series in 2022. Today, RHP Quinn Priester (1-1, 6.08) will take the mound for Indy and Memphis will open with RHP James Naile (2-0, 0.93) in a bullpen game.

PRIESTER DAY: Right-hander Quinn Priester will make his fourth start of the season tonight against Memphis at AutoZone Park at 8:05 PM ET. The 22-year-old has a 2.79 ERA (3er/9.2ip), 13 strikeouts, 0.93 WHIP and .171 batting average against in his last two starts. Tonight will be his first career start against Memphis. As the former 18th overall selection by Pittsburgh in 2019, he is currently rated as the Pirates No. 5 prospect (Baseball America) and the second-best pitcher behind Luis Ortiz (No. 4). Priester finished last season with a 3.29 ERA (33er/90.1ip) overall between Double-A Altoona and a short stint with Indy en route to being honored as the Young Bucs Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year, given to the top-performing minor league pitcher in Pittsburgh's organization.

THIS DATE IN 2019: Indianapolis and Louisville were both held scoreless through the first nine innings before the teams traded runs in the 10th and the Indians plated one in the 11th for the 2-1 win. Right-hander Mitch Keller got the nod for the Indians and tossed 6.0 two-hit innings with eight strikeouts, while Bats starting pitcher Keury Mella tossed 7.0 four-hit innings and fanned seven. With no outs in the 11th and the bases loaded with the automatic runner and back-to-back walks, Eric Wood knocked a single through the infield for the walk-off win. It was the second consecutive extra-inning game of the series and Indianapolis' second walk-off in its last four games.

Check out the Indianapolis Indians Statistics

• Discuss this story on the International League message board...

International League Stories from April 21, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central