James Marvels Again as Indians Beat Bats, 5-2

INDIANAPOLIS - James Marvel stymied the Louisville Bats with seven innings of two-run ball, and the Indianapolis Indians offense piled up 22 baserunners in a 5-2 win on Friday night. Ke'Bryan Hayes matched his season high with four hits, and Jake Elmore singled, doubled and scored two runs in the triumph.

Indianapolis (63-67) jumped in front early with two runs in the first off Keury Mella. Cole Tucker drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Will Craig. The run batted in was Craig's 70th of the season. Trayvon Robinson drove in the second run with a single through the left side to bring home Elmore.
Marvel ran with the lead, facing the minimum through four innings without allowing a hit. He erased his only baserunner through the first four frames - Alex Blandino, who reached on Hayes' third error of the season - with a 6-4-3 double play in the second.
Craig extended Indy's lead to 3-0 with a run-scoring knock in the third, but the Tribe couldn't capitalize further with the bases loaded and no outs. The Indians again settled for one in the fourth on a Hayes RBI single to center, despite having the bases full with nobody out.
Louisville (53-77) didn't record a hit until Rob Refsnyder singled and Alex Blandino doubled to start the fifth. The two eventually came in to score on a groundout by Nick Longhi and single off the bat of former Indian Ryan Lavarnway.
The Tribe pushed their advantage back to three thanks to a two-out, bases-loaded walk drawn by Eric Wood in the sixth.
Marvel (W, 5-0) induced another double play in his final inning of work. He scattered six hits and struck out six. In his last 15 starts between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis, the Curve and Indians have combined for a 14-1 record.
Geoff Hartlieb fanned two to strand two runners in the eighth, and Montana DuRapau (S, 10) pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.
Hayes' other four-hit game this season came on Aug. 1 at Toledo and was the seventh of his career. The Indians left 15 runners on base to establish a new season high, their most in a game since leaving 16 on base on June 15, 2018 at Columbus. The Tribe went 6-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
Mella (L, 8-13) was charged with four earned runs on nine hits, three walks and two hit batters in 4.2 innings pitched.
The Indians and Bats play the second game of their weekend series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Brandon Waddell (2-6, 9.59) will oppose Jesús Reyes (1-4, 4.50).