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Indians Lose 1-0 to I-Cubs Behind Ballesteros' Big Fly

June 20, 2024 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS - Jake Woodford struck out six in 6.0 innings, but his lone blemish - a solo home run off the bat of Moises Ballesteros in the second inning - was the difference as the Indianapolis Indians fell 1-0 to the Iowa Cubs on Thursday night at Victory Field.

Ballesteros, the Chicago Cubs' No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and playing in just his third career Triple-A game, opened the second inning with a 427-foot shot over the wall in right-center. The long ball was his first for Iowa (32-40) and 10th overall after hitting nine with Double-A Tennessee.

The Indians (31-39) tallied five hits through the first six innings but couldn't break the seal. Alika Williams doubled to start the bottom of the first but was stranded at third following a sacrifice bunt. In the next frame, Matt Gorski and Matt Fraizer collected back-to-back singles with one out, but Gorski was thrown out at third base on Fraizer's knock to right. Two innings later, Malcom Nuñez notched a one-out double but was left aboard, and a two-out single by Mike Jarvis and subsequent walk to Williams posed a minor threat in the fifth inning until Liover Peguero lined out sharply to third.

Trey Supak (W, 1-0) outdueled Woodford with 6.0 scoreless innings, issuing one walk with one punchout. I-Cubs reliever Ethan Roberts retired all five batters he faced with three strikeouts, and Hunter Bigge (S, 2) pitched around a two-out walk to Canaan Smith-Njigba in the ninth.

Isaac Mattson, Justin Bruihl and Connor Sadzeck each threw a shutout frame in relief of Woodford (L, 1-4), who yielded four hits in the loss. Indy's bullpen has an International League-best 1.85 ERA (16er/78.0ip) in its last nine games.

The shutout defeat was Indianapolis' fourth of the season and first 1-0 loss since falling to the I-Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Victory Field on May 20, 2023.

The game finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes, the fastest nine-inning game at Victory Field this season, and the second quickest behind a 6-1 win at Iowa on May 26 that was completed in 2 hours and 7 minutes.

The Indians and I-Cubs play the fourth game of the six-game set at Victory Field on Friday at 7:05 PM ET. RHP Luis Cessa (2-2, 4.04) is slated to start for Indy against RHP Dan Straily (0-4, 5.95).

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