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IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (7-8) vs. Columbus Clippers (12-4)

April 23, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 6:35 PM ET

GAME #16 / Home #11: Indianapolis Indians (7-8) vs. Columbus Clippers (12-4)

PROBABLES: LHP Cam Alldred (0-1, 3.68) vs. RHP Peyton Battenfield (1-1, 2.45)

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

TV: MiLB TV / MyINDY-TV 23

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians threatened with a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning but couldn't break through a one-run deficit to lose last night's contest against the Clippers, 4-3. Indy took a first-inning lead for the second consecutive night when Oneil Cruz led off the game with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly off by Mason Martin. The lead didn't last long, however, and Columbus plated two runs in the top of the second on a pair of homers against rehabber Max Kranick. The Clippers extended their lead when both leadoff batters came around to score in the fourth and fifth innings. Cruz countered with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, and Michael Perez tacked on another in the the seventh to cut the Columbus lead to one. Jared Oliva led off the ninth inning with his second hit of the evening, but back-to-back strikeouts by Ian Gibaut ended the threat.

OLIVA'S OFFERING: Jared Oliva went 2-for-4 last night and led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to put the game-tying run on base. It was the outfielder's second multi-hit game of the season after notching three hits with a pair of doubles on 4/15 at St. Paul. Oliva had 16 multi-hit games with Indianapolis in 2021, two of which were season-high three-hit games. He spent the majority of last season with Indianapolis and hit .249 (56-for-225) with 18 extra-base hits and 23 RBI in 64 games.

DISHING IT OUT: Michael Perez went 2-for-3 with an RBI last night for the second two-hit game by a catcher this week. The first came off the bat of Jason Delay, who also went 2-for-3 on Tuesday. Perez drove in the final Indians run in the seventh inning and with one runner on in the bottom of the ninth, sent a long fly ball to the right-center alley that threatened to walk off the game in the Indians favor. Perez's two hits last night were his first in five games this season.

THE FLASH: With stolen bases by Mason Martin, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Cal Mitchell and Jared Oliva on Wednesday and one stolen base on Thursday and two last night, the Indians are tied for the International League and are tied for second among all Triple-A teams with 24 stolen bases this season. So far this in the series vs. Columbus, they have stolen a Triple-A leading 11 bases with just one caught stealing. The Indians stole four bases in consecutive games this week and have three games of four stolen bases this season (also: 4/7 vs. OMA). The last time Indy as a team stole four-or-more bases three times in a season was in 2015 when they had eight total games of that nature (two 5 SB games). Prior to this season, the team's last game with four-plus stolen bases was 4/13/19 vs. Charlotte, and the last eight games with that many stolen bases have come at Victory Field. In 2008, the Indians had 18 games with four-or-more stolen bases, their most dating back to 2005. The single-game high of stolen bases in that time came on 5/4/09 when the Indians swiped nine bases vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

CONTINUED SUCCESS: Chase De Jong earned the win for Pittsburgh yesterday after having his contract selected on Thursday prior to Indy's game. The 28-year-old appeared in three games (two starts) with the Indians this season and went 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3er/13.0ip) and 19 strikeouts. He currently ranks among International League leaders in average against (6th, .156), strikeouts (T-6th) and WHIP (8th, 0.92). On 4/13 at St. Paul, De Jong tossed 7.0 hitless innings with nine strikeouts en route to the Indians' first no-hitter since 2012. Last season, De Jong made four starts with Indianapolis to begin the season before having his contract selected by Pittsburgh on 5/30. His season ended on 7/20 when he was placed on the 10-day injured list (later transferred to the 60-day) with left knee inflammation.

TODAY: The Indians will try to avoid a series loss vs. Columbus tonight at 6:35 PM ET. Last season, the Indians began the year with a 16-5 record at home and did not lose a series at Victory Field until July. The Indians faced the Clippers 11 times during the 2021 campaign and won the season series, 6-5, thanks to a 4-2 record at Victory Field that included a doubleheader sweep. Cam Alldred will take the mound for the Indians today. For the Clippers, Peyton Battenfield will make his fourth start of the season after surrendering one earned run in 4.0 innings on 4/17 vs. Syracuse.

WHAT A WEEK: Despite taking the loss last Sunday afternoon after surrendering two unearned runs to the Saints, Beau Sulser was solid in 4.0 innings of work to finish off a stellar road trip performance in St. Paul. To open the road trip, Sulser recorded his first career complete game (5.0ip) in a rain-shortened contest on Tuesday, the first complete game tossed among all Triple-A teams this season. In his two starts at St. Paul, he surrendered no earned runs and no walks with 10 strikeouts in 9.0 innings. The right-hander has made 39 starts in his career and last season tossed a team-high five quality starts. In addition, he notched a team-high 20.1-inning scoreless streak from June 27-July 17 (2) spanning four appearances (three starts). He also ranked fifth among Triple-A East leaders with 122.2 innings pitched.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS: In the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday, Travis Swaggerty and Anthony Alford launched the Indians' first back-to-back home runs of the 2022 season. With Connor Kaiser on base, Swaggerty pulled the ball to right-center field to post the first Indianapolis runs since the two-run first inning and notch his first homer of the season. Alford followed with a long ball out to left field - his second home run in that vicinity in as many days - for his second back-to-back home run in an Indians uniform (also: 5/13/21 vs. Toledo with Christian Bethancourt). In 2021, the Indians paired up for four back-to-back home runs, their most since posting four of the feats in 2017. The team hit five back-to-back dingers in 2009, their most in a single season dating back to 2005.

THIS DATE IN 1902: In the newly formed American Association, the Indianapolis Indians played their first game in franchise history and opened the regular season with a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers - who were a minor league team at the time - at Washington Park. The team was part of a parade from the Grand Hotel to Washington Park, where a crowd estimated at 4,000 watched the locals earn the hard-fought victory.

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