IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Indians Drop Third Straight, Lose on Walk-Off Homer

June 30, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


COLUMBUS, OHIO - Clippers shortstop Yu Chang hit an opposite-field home run with one out in the ninth to hand the Indians a 10-9 walk-off defeat on Saturday night. Columbus designated hitter Eric Haase hit two home runs and drove in six, but the Indians offense raked 17 hits to dig out of a 7-0 deficit before falling in heartbreaking fashion.

The Indians (43-36) climbed all the way back from a disastrous start, scoring two in the third, three in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and sixth to make it a 9-7 ballgame. Down to their final strike, Jerrick Suiter smoked a single to right ahead of a Jackson Williams game-tying homer to left, his first in Triple-A since June 23, 2017 at Louisville.

Chang's seventh long ball of the season came off Josh Smoker (L, 3-1) to seal the dramatic 3-hour and 32-minute affair. Ben Taylor (W, 4-1) blew his first save but earned the win because of the walk-off.

The Clippers (41-39) led three batters into the bottom of the first. Greg Allen doubled on Mitch Keller's second pitch, took third on a Yandy Diaz single and scored on Francisco Mejia's first of two RBI doubles into the left-field corner. Two batters later, Haase cranked a three-run shot to make it 4-0.

Things worsened for Indianapolis (43-36) in the Clippers' next trip to the dish. After sending eight men to the plate in the first, another seven batted in the second. Mejia's second two-bagger pushed Indy into a 5-0 hole and Haase made it 7-0 with a double off the right-center field fence.

A run-scoring single by Adam Frazier in the third gave the Tribe their first run, and Jordan Luplow collected an RBI for a sixth straight game with a fielder's choice.

Indy's five-run deficit quickly went back to six on an Allen RBI single, but hits by Suiter, Williams and Frazier in the fourth led to three more Indians runs and an 8-5 score. Haase's second dinger came off Jesus Liranzo before the Tribe used Kevin Newman and Jason Martin run-scoring knocks in the next two innings to inch closer.

Seven of Indy's nine regulars had multi-hit performances, led by three hits apiece by Frazier and Williams.

Keller was roughed up in his debut. The 22-year-old allowed career highs in hits (10) and earned runs (8) across 2.2 innings pitched, his shortest outing this season.

The Indians and Clippers conclude their four-game set on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET. The Tribe will send right-hander Tyler Eppler (8-3, 3.14) to the bump against righty Mitch Talbot (2-2, 2.75).

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