Indians Toppled by Trio of Seventh Inning Runs

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Indianapolis Indians threatened with a ninth-inning rally but were ultimately vanquished by a three-run seventh from the Memphis Redbirds as they fell, 4-2, on Tuesday night at AutoZone Park.

In a 1-1 game, Thomas Harrington (L, 2-6) entered the seventh inning with just two hits and one earned run allowed but was chased after allowing a single and a walk to lead off the inning. Memphis (32-24) then strung together four singles off reliever Hunter Stratton to manufacture their game-winning three-run frame.

Matt Koperniak opened the scoring for Memphis in the third inning with a solo blast off Harrington. Indianapolis (31-25) struck back in the sixth when Matt Fraizer reached on a leadoff single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a Billy Cook single. Indy managed to scratch across a run with a fielding error and a trio of singles in the ninth but left the bases loaded to end the game.

Despite the loss, Harrington tossed a season-high 6.0 innings and allowed only three hits. Rehabber Dauri Moreta came on in relief of Stratton and struck out one in a scoreless eighth. Ryan Fernandez (W, 3-1) took the victory for Memphis with 2.0 scoreless innings and Riley O’Brien (S, 3) escaped the bases-loaded jam in the ninth for the save.

Indy and Memphis continue their six-game set on Wednesday night at 8:05 PM from AutoZone Park. Carmen Mlodzinski (1-0, 0.00) is set to take the mound for Indianapolis and looks to continue his 10.2 inning scoreless streak. Southpaw Alex Cornwell (1-4, 9.16) will counter Mlodzinski for his ninth start of the year.