Bae’s Bomb Lifts Offense as Indians Pick Up First Win of Series

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Indianapolis Indians offense thrived as Ji Hwan Bae recorded two hits and a career-high tying five RBI in a 9-6 win over the Louisville Bats at Louisville Slugger Field on Thursday evening.

With the game scoreless in the third, Indianapolis (17-16) recorded its first baserunners on singles from Billy McKinney and Andrés Alvarez, leading into a three-run home run by Bae off Brett Kennedy (L, 1-4) to give Indy an early lead. Bae smacked his career-high tying five RBI for the first time since Aug. 22, 2019, at Single-A Delmarva.

Louisville (18-18) responded in the following inning with two runs courtesy of an RBI single by Edwin Ríos and a run-scoring wild pitch from Connor Sadzeck.

In the fifth, McKinney and Canaan Smith-Njigba recorded back-to-back singles before Alvarez roped a two-run double to right field to extend Indy’s lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Bats took one run back when Blake Dunn scored on a Livan Soto double.

In response, Indianapolis padded its lead with four additional runs on four base hits in the sixth and seventh, the three-run sixth highlighted by a Bae two-run single. Louisville managed to tally two runs in the sixth, courtesy of a Peyton Burdick two-run blast.

Malcom Nuñez singled in the seventh to score Henry Davis while Louisville continued to claw back in the eighth on a Nick Martini solo homer.

Brady Feigl (W, 4-1) tossed 2.2 innings and punched out three in a winning effort as the third of five pitchers for Indianapolis while Brent Honeywell (S, 3) closed the door on the contest.

Indianapolis and Louisville will square off for the fourth contest of the six-game series tomorrow at 7:15 PM ET at Louisville Slugger Field. RHP Randy Wynne (0-0, 0.00) will take the hill for the Bats while the Indians have yet to name a starter.