Indians Continue Hot Stretch at Home, Sweep Doubleheader Against Bats
INDIANAPOLIS – Bubba Chandler yielded one unearned run over 5.0 innings pitched in the first contest, and Andrés Alvarez laced a two-out tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning of the nightcap to give the Indianapolis Indians a pair of 2-1 wins against the Louisville Bats on Wednesday night at Victory
INDIANAPOLIS – Bubba Chandler yielded one unearned run over 5.0 innings pitched in the first contest, and Andrés Alvarez laced a two-out tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning of the nightcap to give the Indianapolis Indians a pair of 2-1 wins against the Louisville Bats on Wednesday night at Victory Field. The doubleheader sweep extended the Indians’ winning streak at the Vic to nine, tied for the longest in ballpark history with nine-game stretches in 1997 and 2013.
The Indians (29-23, 62-63) rode the right arm of Chandler and tallied three extra-base hits – their only hits of the game – to take the opener. Nick Yorke and Jack Suwinski strung together a two-out double and triple in the bottom of the first to put Indy up 1-0, and Liover Peguero cleared the wall in left-center in the Indians’ next at-bat to double the advantage. The long ball was Peguero’s 13th of the season.
Chandler (W, 2-0) stranded two runners apiece in the second and third before the Bats (19-34, 57-70) scratched a run across in the fourth. Joey Wiemer doubled with two outs and scored on the next ball in play, when Eric Yang reached safely on a fielding error by first baseman Seth Beer. Chandler picked up his fourth and fifth strikeouts in his final inning of work, and Isaac Mattson (S, 2) struck out four of the six batters he faced to seal the win. The game featured just eight combined baserunners and was completed in a tidy 1 hour and 31 minutes, tied for the second-shortest seven-inning contest in the Victory Field era.
Bats starting pitcher Connor Phillips (L, 2-8) gave up two earned runs in 4.0 innings to suffer the loss.
Playing as the visiting team in Game 2 due to a July 3 postponement at Louisville Slugger Field, Indianapolis overcame an early 1-0 deficit with single runs in the fourth and seventh. The Bats led 1-0 through three innings behind a run-scoring single by former Indian Erik González in the second, but Peguero knotted the score with an RBI double to plate Joshua Palacios. In the decisive inning, Alvarez drilled his second three-bagger of the season and third hit of the game into the right-field corner to capitalize on a leadoff walk drawn by Edward Olivares.
Beau Sulser delivered 4.0 innings of one-run ball in relief of the rehabbing Colin Holderman, who pitched a scoreless first inning. Geronimo Franzua (W, 5-6) fanned five batters in 2.0 innings pitched, stranding two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh.
Zach Maxwell (L, 4-2) struck out three but was tagged with the loss for Louisville in Game 2.
The Indians and Bats continue their seven-game series on Thursday at 7:05 PM ET. RHP Thomas Harrington (2-1, 3.09) is scheduled to start for Indy against LHP Brandon Leibrandt (3-4, 4.46).