Nuñez Grand Slam, Dominant Pitching Defeat Saints
April 16, 2023 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
INDIANAPOLIS - Malcom Nuñez crushed a grand slam to straightaway center field and the Indianapolis Indians pitching staff racked up 17 strikeouts en route to a series-closing victory over the St. Paul Saints on Sunday afternoon, 7-0.
Indianapolis (7-8) pitchers have now struck out 33 batters through their last two games, following up a 16-strikeout game on Saturday night with one better. The team's 17 strikeouts on Sunday were the most since punching out 18 on April 27, 2019 at Charlotte.
Each team tallied just two hits through three scoreless innings before the Indians were lifted to a lead by Tyler Heineman's first home run since 2019 in the fourth. A leadoff single by Travis Swaggerty opened the inning before a walk to Nuñez and wild pitch set up a pair in scoring position with two outs. Heineman worked a full count before cranking a curveball off Cole Sands (L, 0-1) down the right-field line to plate three.
The floodgates opened in the bottom of the seventh. Three consecutive two-out walks loaded the bases before Nuñez stepped to the plate and recorded his first extra-base hit of the season with a towering home run over the center field wall. The blast was his third career grand slam and first since June 28, 2022 with Double-A Springfield vs. Wichita.
Meanwhile, Indians pitching was making quick work of the Saints (8-6) offense. Hunter Stratton opened the game with five strikeouts through 2.0 shutout innings before Osvaldo Bido (W, 1-0) took over in the third. Through 5.0 frames, Bido racked up nine strikeouts to finish one shy of his career high. Angel Perdomo fanned one in the eighth inning and Carmen Mlodzinski closed the game with two punchouts in the ninth.
The victory was also Indianapolis' first nine-inning shutout since Aug. 12, 2022 at Memphis. Indy's first shutout of the 2023 season came on April 6 (2) at Louisville where they allowed just two hits over 7.0 scoreless frames.
The Indians are set to begin a six-game series against the Memphis Redbirds on Tuesday in a 7:45 PM ET first pitch at AutoZone Park. Neither team has named a starting pitcher for the opening contest.
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