TOLEDO, OHIO -Mitchell Tolman launched a pair of solo home runs and Jake Elmore added one of his own to help the Indianapolis Indians to a 3-1 win in game two of a doubleheader split in Toledo on Wednesday night. Indy led the first game comfortably but saw the Mud
TOLEDO, OHIO -Mitchell Tolman launched a pair of solo home runs and Jake Elmore added one of his own to help the Indianapolis Indians to a 3-1 win in game two of a doubleheader split in Toledo on Wednesday night. Indy led the first game comfortably but saw the Mud Hens score the final seven runs for a 9-8 walk-off victory.
Indianapolis (62-66) erased a sour finish from the twin bill opener with three long balls and a gem from Cody Ponce, acquired by Pittsburgh at the trade deadline from Milwaukee in the Jordan Lyles deal.
Tolman cranked his first career home run with the Indians in the third to make it 1-0, and he doubled the lead with another blast in the fifth for his third career multi-homer game. Moments after fouling a pitch off his ankle in the sixth, Elmore parked a 392-foot blast out to left-center off Victor Alcántara to extend the Tribe advantage to 3-0.
Ponce (W, 1-1) excelled on the mound with five innings of two-hit ball, fanning eight for the first time since May 29, 2017. Yacksel Ríos (S, 8) surrendered a solo homer to Daz Cameron in the bottom of the sixth and pitched around a leadoff double in the seventh for his first save with Indianapolis.
Zac Reininger (L, 2-3) took the loss for Toledo in the second contest after giving up one run on four hits in three innings pitched.
The Mud Hens (59-69) scored the final seven runs in the first game to erase an 8-2 deficit. Willi Castro's second home run of the game and 11th of the season made it 8-3 in the sixth, and Chad Sedio split the right-center gap for an RBI double to bring the home team within four. Luis Escobar escaped a bases-loaded jam later in the inning on a deep lineout by Christin Stewart.
Toledo started another rally against Escobar in the seventh. Grayson Greiner, Mikie Mahtook and Jacob Robson collected singles, the last cutting Indy's advantage to 8-5. Escobar then walked Pete Kozma on four pitches to load the bases. Reliever Geoff Hartlieb inherited the situation and saw all three baserunners come in to score, one on a slow comebacker by Sedio and two more on a two-out, game-tying single off the bat of Cameron. Jeimer Candelario put the finishing touches on the five-run frame with a walk-off double into the right field corner.
Indianapolis sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning of game one, matching a season high for runs in an inning with seven. Will Craig smacked an RBI single, Eric Wood roped a two-run single and Tolman forced home a run with a bases-loaded walk, all ahead of a three-run double by Jason Martin.
Castro and Mahtook opened the second with back-to-back homers off Alex McRae. Indy pushed its lead to 8-2 on a run-scoring single by Francisco Cervelli before Toledo mounted its comeback against the Tribe bullpen.
Hartlieb (L, 4-1) gave up the decisive run to suffer the loss while Daniel Stumpf (W, 2-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the victory.
McRae yielded two runs on six hits and one walk over five innings and tied a season high with eight strikeouts, with the other two eight-punchout starts coming on May 22 at Louisville and June 27 vs. Columbus. Funkhouser couldn't escape the first inning after surrendering seven earned runs on four hits and four walks but was let off the hook thanks to Toledo's rally.
The Tribe conclude their four-game set and seek a series split in Toledo on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. ET. Yefry Ramírez (2-5, 4.26) will start for the Indians.
