IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Rondon's Two-Homer Game Leads to 5-4 Tribe Loss

Published on July 21, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jose Rondon hit his 11th and 12th homers and the Knights staved off another Indians comeback attempt with a 5-4 win on Saturday night to clinch both the weekend and season series. The Indians have lost seven of 10 games since the All-Star break.

Indianapolis (51-46) found itself in another 5-2 hole after five innings and nearly dug out for a second consecutive night. The Tribe rallied for two runs in the ninth off Knights (47-52) closer Thyago Vieira but came up short, suffering their fifth loss in six contests on the seven-game road swing.

Kevin Kramer doubled into the right-corner corner to start the ninth, giving him a team-high 31 multi-hit games in the process. Christopher Bostick, reinstated from the disabled prior to the game, followed with a double to left to bring Indy within two runs at 5-3. Jason Martin then drove a high fly ball to deep left-center, but Knights center fielder Trayce Thompson leapt at the fence for the catch to take away extra bases. The deep drive advanced Bostick to third, and he promptly scored on a passed ball.

Ryan Lavarnway and Pablo Reyes strung together singles to knock Vieira out of the game. Gregory Infante (S, 6) inherited the jam and struck out Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier to seal Indy's fate.

Charlotte never trailed thanks to Rondon's pop. The Knights shortstop made it 1-0 in the second when he hooked a 3-2 pitch from Tyler Eppler down the left-field line for a solo shot. The blast preceded three straight walks issued by Eppler and a double-play ball off the bat of Jake Elmore that pushed the Knights' lead to 2-0.

Indy leveled the score at 2-2 in its next at-bat. Reyes, Newman, Frazier and Austin Meadows each tallied singles off southpaw Matt Tomshaw, the latter two driving home runs.

Elmore hit a two-out RBI single in the fourth to give Charlotte the lead for good.

Rondon's second dinger sailed just beyond the right-field wall in the fifth and proved to be the difference in Charlotte's fifth straight victory.

Tomshaw (W, 3-1) scattered seven hits over 5.1 innings of two-run ball. Eppler (L, 9-5) was charged with five earned runs on eight hits across 5.0 frames.

Frazier's run-scoring single in the third extended his RBI streak to a career-high six games.

Bostick and Reyes finished with three hits apiece. Indy went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and is 6-for-28 in those situations in the current series.

The Indians are 1-5 in Charlotte and 3-6 overall against the Knights this season.

The Indians look to finish their road trip on a high note in the series finale Sunday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. EDT. Right-hander Mitch Keller (0-1, 13.50) will square off against southpaw Jordan Guerrero (2-0, 2.78).

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International League Stories from July 21, 2018


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