IL1 Indianapolis Indians

McRae's Seven, Mathisen's Mash Carry Tribe to Sweep

Published on June 27, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


TOLEDO, OHIO - Alex McRae struck out eight over seven shutout innings and Wyatt Mathisen mashed a two-run homer as the Indians swept the Mud Hens in convincing fashion on Wednesday night, 7-0. The victory pulled Indy within a half-game of first place in the IL West; the Indians were 8.5 games back of the Hens on June 2.

The Tribe (43-33) rode the right arm of McRae to the series-finale triumph, handing the Hens their first shutout loss of the season. The blanking was Indy's ninth of the season, tied with Lehigh Valley for most in the IL.

Kevin Kramer one-hopped the center-field wall for a double to open the second and later slid across home plate on a Max Moroff sacrifice fly to right.

One run was enough for McRae (W, 3-7), who spread the wealth with his season-high tying eight punchouts. He recorded at least one strikeout in each of his seven innings, scattering three hits and one walk. Toledo (44-33) did not have a runner reach second base until a Ronny Rodriguez one-out double in the sixth, his second of a game-high three hits.

The Indians pushed their advantage to 3-0 in the fourth thanks to a Ryan Lavarnway two-bagger and ensuing two-run blast by Mathisen. Lavarnway's double extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and Mathisen's tater was his third with Indy.

Jordan Luplow dumped an RBI single into right in Indianapolis' next trip to the plate, bringing around Kevin Newman who had singled and swiped second for his league-high 19th stolen base.

The score remained 4-0 until the ninth when the Tribe got to Hens closer Junichi Tazawa for a second time in three days. Moroff and Eric Wood both singled ahead of an Erich Weiss single, setting up a Newman sacrifice fly. Adam Frazier then cleared the bases with a triple to left-center.

Jesus Liranzo tossed two scoreless innings to complete the sweep. The Indians are now 9-4 against Toledo and 5-1 at Fifth Third Field in 2018.

Indy is now a league-best 18-7 in June.

Jacob Turner (L, 1-1) surrendered four runs on seven hits over six innings. He had allowed just one run in 13.1 innings across three starts prior to Wednesday's hiccup.

The Indians continue their season-high nine-game road trip with a four-game series beginning Thursday night in Columbus. Indy will send Ohio native J.T. Brubaker (4-2, 4.11) to the bump, opposite Clippers righty Shao-Ching Chiang (3-0, 5.40).

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