Cook Caps Quartet of Fifth Inning Runs in Series-Opening Win

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians rallied for four runs in the fifth inning, headlined by a two-run shot from Billy Cook, and held the Toledo Mud Hens offense at bay as they took Game 1 of their six-game set at Victory Field, 7-1.

The Indians’ (15-7, 57-39) big inning broke a scoreless tie between the two clubs. Ronny Simon and Ji Hwan Bae each singled and advanced to scoring position before Nick Solak drove them both in with a single of his own, chasing Toledo (12-10, 51-46) starter Wilkel Hernandez (L, 3-5). Billy Cook capped the inning and doubled the lead with a two-run home run, his second homer in as many games and his fourth in his last six played.

Toledo and Indy traded runs in the sixth. Justyn-Henry Malloy provided the lone spark for the Mud Hens with a lead-off home run in Toledo’s half. Jared Triolo responded with a double to lead off Indy’s half of the inning and moved to third on a line out, setting up Tsung-Che Cheng to pad Indy’s lead with a sacrifice fly.

Bae cushioned Indy’s advantage and capped the scoring with his fourth hit of the day, a two-RBI double, in the eighth. Since returning from the 7-day IL on June 27, Bae is hitting .359 (23-for-64) with two doubles, three triples, 11 RBI and a .911 OPS.

Thomas Harrington (W, 7-8) turned in a great performance for Indy, fanning seven Mud Hens across 5.2 one-run innings. He improved to 3-0 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP in four July starts. Randy Labaut, Ryan Borucki and Kyle Nicolas followed out of the bullpen, holding the Mud Hens to one hit, no runs and no walks across the final 3.2 frames.

The Indians and Mud Hens continue their six-game series on Wednesday night at 7:05 PM from Victory Field. Southpaw Devin Smeltzer (0-0, 0.00) will start for Toledo while Indianapolis has not yet named a starter.