Tribe Lack Clutch Hitting in Series Finale
June 2, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release
INDIANAPOLIS - Despite Mitch Keller vying for a perfect 6-0 Triple-A record and Eric Wood sending out his second home run in as many days, the Tribe offense couldn't capitalize with runners in scoring position and dropped the rubber game against Gwinnett, 4-2.
Keller (L, 5-1), one start removed from his MLB debut with Pittsburgh, was flawless through five of his six innings. He struck out five and allowed two walks with all three of his hits allowed coming in the third inning.
Gwinnett (33-23) plated the first run of the game in the top of the third when Luis Marte scored on a groundout to short after going first-to-third on a Rafael Ortega single. Ortega was brought home on another single that upped the Stripers' lead to 2-0.
The Indians (31-22) had a chance to rally in the third after Jason Martin smoked a leadoff triple in the left-center gap, but the offense couldn't come through with a runner 90-feet away. Just two batters deep an inning later, Wood sent a fly ball into the right-field lawn to cut Indy's deficit in half, 2-1.
A leadoff walk in the eighth inning set the Stripers up for a chance at insurance runs. With a 1-1 count, Andres Blanco sent a towering fly ball deep over the right-field fence to extend their lead to 4-1. Montana DuRapau entered the game with a 0.55 ERA (1er/16.1ip) and left his one-inning outing sitting at 1.56.
With Kevin Kramer on and one away, Pablo Reyes shot a double deep to right-center to inch Indy one run closer to Gwinnett. The Stripers threatened with runners on first and second with two outs in the final inning, but Brandon Waddell kept the deficit at two.
Ben Rowen (W, 4-1) came in for a 4.1-inning relief appearance of Gwinnett starter Patrick Weigel. He allowed one run on three hits and collected five punchouts. A.J. Minter came in for the ninth inning and shut down the Tribe in order for his second save of the season.
The Indians hit the road for the next week, beginning with a three-game set at Louisville. Eduardo Vera (3-4, 6.41) will take the mound against Lucas Sims (3-0, 4.06) on Monday night in a 7:00 p.m. ET start.
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