IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (7-9) at Memphis Redbirds (11-5)

April 19, 2023 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: AutoZone Park

FIRST PITCH: 1:05 PM ET

GAME #17 / ROAD #8: Indianapolis Indians (7-9) at Memphis Redbirds (11-5)

PROBABLES: LHP Kent Emanuel (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Dakota Hudson (1-1, 2.87)

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

TV: Bally Live app / MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Memphis Redbirds launched back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Indianapolis Indians in walk-off fashion on Tuesday night at AutoZone Park, 5-4. Trailing by a run with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Luken Baker and Oscar Mercado launched consecutive dingers off Yerry De Los Santos to cap a four-run comeback for Memphis. The Redbirds trailed 4-0 before plating three runs in the seventh inning en route to the series-opening victory. The Indians capitalized on an Endy RodrÌguez single and walk issued to Malcom Nuñez to begin the scoring with two outs in the third inning. Miguel Andújar drove in one with a pop-up single, and Cal Mitchell followed in the next at-bat with a two-run double to right field, extending the lead to 3-0. Indianapolis tacked on its last run of the contest in the top half of the sixth inning courtesy of a double by Aaron Shackelford.

ANDÚJAR DOUBLES: Miguel Andújar collected his fourth multi-hit performance in his last seven games on Tuesday night. He now has a double in seven of his last nine games and leads the International League in doubles alongside Tucupita Marcano (7). He has also notched a hit in 10 of his last 11 games. During the 11-game stretch, he is hitting .341 (15-for-44) with seven RBI, and a .404 on-base percentage.

THAT'S AN ACE: Luis Ortiz posted 5.0 shutout innings on Tuesday night against Memphis. The 23-year-old is off to a good start to his 2023 campaign, owning a 2.08 ERA (4er/17.1ip), 11 hits allowed, 18 strikeouts, 1.04 WHIP and .180 average-against. He ranks among International League qualifiers in batting average against (5th), strikeouts (5th), ERA (5th), WHIP (5th), innings pitched (6th) and strikeouts (8th). Ortiz has ascended from Pittsburgh's No. 22 prospect in 2022 to its No. 4 going into the 2023 season - Pittsburgh's highest rated pitching prospect - according to Baseball America.

SHACKELFORD SLUGGING: Aaron Shackleford logged a season-high three hits yesterday, his most since going 3-for-3 on Aug. 7, 2022 with Double-A Altoona vs. Akron. In the top of the sixth inning, the second baseman smacked a double off the left-field wall to score Ryan Vilade and extend the Indians lead to 4-0. After beginning the season 1-for-13 through his first six games, Shackleford has heated up as of late. He has hit safely in three of his past four days with doubles in each of his last two. Despite a slow start to hitting, the 26-year-old has reached base safely in nine of 10 total games played after taking at least one walk in each of his first six games.

STRIKING 'EM OUT: Indianapolis' pitching staff leads all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts (169). 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: The Indians currently lead the International League with seven triples this season. Nick Gonzales and Travis Swaggerty lead the team in triples with two and are also tied for the most triples in the IL with Nashville's Eddy Alvarez, Gwinnett's Vaughn Grissom and Buffalo's Otto Lopez. Indy has now had a triple in three of its last five 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.

TODAY: The Indians and Redbirds will play the second contest of their six-game series today at 1:05 PM ET at AutoZone Park. After dropping their first four contests of the season, the Indians are 7-5 since and have won two of their last three. Indianapolis and Memphis split a pair of six-game series in 2022. Today, southpaw Kent Emanuel (0-0, 0.00) will take the mound for Indy vs. Memphis' right-hander Dakota Hudson (1-1, 2.87). Emanuel is making his second start of the season and third appearance. His last appearance came on April 14 vs. St. Paul when he pitched 3.0 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Hudson has never faced Indianapolis.

EMANUEL TAKES THE HILL: Southpaw Kent Emanuel will make his second start of the season with Indy today at AutoZone Park. He is coming off 3.0 scoreless innings of work against St. Paul on April 14. It will be his first start against Memphis since Aug. 21, 2019 with Triple-A Round Rock, when he tossed 7.2 innings and surrendered five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. In five appearances (two starts), he is 3-1 with a 4.85 ERA (13er/24.1ip) with four walks and 16 strikeouts against Memphis. He was acquired by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent on Feb. 10, 2023. Emanuel was originally drafted by Houston in the third round (74th overall) of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina. He was recalled by Houston on April 23, 2021 before making his major league debut the following day. Emanuel had one of the more memorable debuts, entering the game after an injury to starter Jake Odorizzi, he pitched a career-high 8.2 two-run innings on five hits and five punchouts to earn the win vs. Los Angeles (AL). He became the first pitcher since John Montefusco in 1974 to pitch eight-plus innings in relief and get the win on his MLB debut.

THIS DATE IN 2004: The Indians walked off Richmond with a 7-6 win at Victory Field thanks to a broken-bat single to left field by shortstop J.J Hardy in the bottom of the ninth. Hardy drove in five runs, the other four coming on a grand slam in the fifth inning that turned a 3-0 deficit into an Indians lead. First baseman Jeff Liefer also clubbed a pair of solo home runs, the second tying the game at 6-6 in the eighth.

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