Indians Smash 19 Hits, Earn Mother's Day Victory

INDIANAPOLIS - Eric Wood cranked a 394-foot, three-run blast to cap a five-run sixth inning as Indianapolis overcame a major deficit to win 12-7 on Mother's Day at Victory Field. The Indians totaled 19 hits, with seven players recording multi-hit games.

Indianapolis (18-16) scored 10 unanswered runs on the heels of seven straight scored by the visitors. Trailing 7-6 in the sixth, Wood powered his third homer of 2018 over the left-field lawn, scoring Austin Meadows and Jordan Luplow who preceded the dinger with RBI singles.
The Tribe added two more runs after the stretch to go up 11-7. Meadows plated Kevin Newman from third with a groundout to first, and a throwing error by Clippers shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang on a Luplow grounder allowed Christopher Bostick to trot home.
One inning later, Bostick chipped in his third hit of the game - a run-scoring knock to right - bringing home Pablo Reyes who had reached on an infield single.
The Indians secured a 2-0 lead after one inning of play thanks to a Newman single, Meadows RBI double and Kevin Kramer single to left-center.
Columbus (16-19) started its stretch of scoring in the second, using Chang and Mike Papi doubles to make it a 2-1 ballgame. In the Clippers next at-bat, Melky Cabrera roped an RBI double and Chang poked a run-scoring single - both with two outs.
Austin Coley's two-out troubles carried over to the fourth inning when Adam Rosales launched an opposite-field grand slam to extend Columbus' lead to five at 7-2.
The Indians began chipping away at the deficit, scoring in each of their final five trips to the plate. Reyes lined an RBI single to center in the home half of the fourth and a two-out, three-base error on an Erich Weiss grounder to first in the fifth brought Indy within three, 7-4.
The Tribe completed their comeback in the following frame, leaving Cole Sulser (L, 1-1) on the hook for the loss. He was charged with four earned runs on four hits.
Casey Sadler (W, 2-2) kept the Clippers in check as Indy mounted its rally. He tossed two perfect innings in relief of Coley, striking out three batters.
All nine Indians recorded at least one hit, led by three-hit performances from Newman, Bostick and Ryan Lavarnway. Newman is now 12-for-18 over his last four games, elevating his average from .248 to .309.
The Indians improved to 13-8 in games played on Mother's Day since 1996, including a 9-3 mark since 2006. The 12 runs scored marked their highest Mother's Day total since scoring 14 in 1997 against Omaha.
Following an off day on Monday, the Indians hit the road for a tough six-game trip against the top two teams in the IL South Division, Norfolk and Durham. Indy will open its three-game set against the Tides on Tuesday, May 15 at 6:35 p.m.
To purchase tickets for any Indians home game, contact the Victory Field Box Office at 317-269-2282 or [email protected]. For more on the Tribe, visit IndyIndians.com.