Indians Have Win Streak Halted at Four by Memphis, 3-2

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Despite a late comeback effort, the Indianapolis Indians dropped their series finale with the Memphis Redbirds on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field, 3-2.

With the bases loaded and two men out in the bottom of the ninth against Memphis reliever Ryan Loutos (S, 2), late-game substitution Gilberto Celestino hit a chopping ground ball right at Redbirds first baseman Luken Baker. As Baker pulled his torso up to start his move to first, the ball hit off the heel of his glove and hit the dirt. Baker eventually corralled and flipped to a fully outstretched Loutos, who was covering first base, to get Celestino by half of a step and thwart the Indians’ comeback bid.

The Redbirds (4-5) opened scoring in the top of the first against Indianapolis left-hander Cam Alldred when Baker hit a sacrifice fly to plate rehabbing outfielder Lars Nootbaar. The Indians (5-4), however, knotted the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly of their own against Redbirds starter Sem Robberse (W, 2-0) a half-inning later, which came from second baseman Liover Peguero to plate shortstop Nick Gonzales.

Scoring halted until the top of the sixth, when Memphis shortstop Thomas Saggese took Indians reliever Kade McClure (L, 0-2) deep to left-center field. Baker added another sacrifice fly in the eighth to push the advantage to 3-1 in Memphis’ favor.

Indianapolis had foot traffic on the basepaths in the bottom of the eighth and had a run to show for it thanks to an RBI groundout from first baseman Matt Gorski. However, their traffic in the ninth didn’t result in any runs, capping an afternoon in which the Indians went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

While the Indians bats may have gone cold as a collective unit, Gonzales stood out. The Indians shortstop’s 3-for-4 day pushed his batting average to .405 (15-for-37) and his OPS to 1.058 through his first nine games of the season.

The Indians have Monday off to take in the total solar eclipse before heading to Toledo for a six-game series with the Tigers-affiliated Mud Hens. First pitch of the series from Fifth Third Field will be at 6:35 PM ET on Tuesday. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher.