Indians Win Fourth Straight, Clinch Series Victory Over Saints
INDIANAPOLIS – Mason Martin belted his team-high 18th home run of the season and Endy Rodriguez went opposite field for his first Triple-A three bagger, as the Indianapolis Indians earned their fourth straight victory over the St. Paul Saints on Friday night, 6-4.
INDIANAPOLIS – Mason Martin belted his team-high 18th home run of the season and Endy Rodriguez went opposite field for his first Triple-A three bagger, as the Indianapolis Indians earned their fourth straight victory over the St. Paul Saints on Friday night, 6-4.
Up 3-1 with one out in the sixth, Martin opened up the Indians (74-70) second three-run frame when he ripped the 3-2 pitch onto the berm over the right field fence. Walks issued to Jared Oliva and Tucupita Marcano put runners on the corners, Rodriguez cracked his first triple in Triple-A with a deep fly ball into the left-center field gap that plated both runners, extending the lead to 6-1.
After the Saints (69-75) got on the board in the first with an RBI single by right fielder Cole Sturgeon, Indy would respond with a three-run third to capture the lead. Jared Oliva roped a leadoff double and scored promptly on an RBI single by Hoy Park. A fielding error by starting pitcher Randy Dobnak (L, 1-2) led to Park scoring. Malcom Nunez grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to score Marcano – who singled earlier in the frame – to cap the inning.
St. Paul would rally to score a pair in the eighth to cut its deficit to 6-3 with a two-run double courtesy of Andrew Bechtold. Down two with the bases loaded in the top of ninth, Roy Morales singled to put the Saints within two runs. Southpaw Cam Vieaux (S, 2) would go on to strikeout the next two batters to slam the door on the Saints comeback efforts.
Starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff tossed 4.0 one-run innings struckout five batters. In relief of Eickhoff, Travis MacGregor would toss 2.0 scoreless and earned his second win of the season.
Oliva went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a diving snag in right field. Tonight was his seventh multi-hit game of the month.
The Indians will look to take a 5-0 lead in the series against St. Paul tomorrow night at 7:05 PM ET at Victory Field. Taking the mound for Indianapolis will be RHP Peter Solomon (0-0, 8.10) against RHP Dereck Rodriguez (7-4, 5.07).