Indians Drop Fourth Straight in Columbus, 4-2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite scoring a run in each of their first two innings, the Indianapolis Indians dropped their fourth consecutive game to the Columbus Clippers on Saturday night, 4-2.

Knotted at two in the fourth inning, recently-outrighted outfielder Oscar Mercado gave Columbus (51-38) a 3-2 lead with an RBI triple on a line drive into left-center field off Indians right-hander Travis MacGregor (L, 0-1). Clippers designated hitter Will Brennan hit an opposite field, line drive home run to finish the scoring in the bottom of the seventh.

After an RBI single from Indians second baseman Rodolfo Castro in the first inning, third baseman Hoy Park belted a solo home run to right-center field against left-hander Kirk McCarty (W, 3-2) to give Indianapolis (41-46) a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. The blast was Park’s third home run with the Indians, and his second against Columbus.

The Clippers came back to tie the game at two with runs in both the second and third before Mercado’s triple and Brennan’s home run finished their night offensively. Columbus pitchers retired the last nine Indians hitters they faced, finished off by a perfect ninth inning from reliever Justin Garza (S, 2).

Indianapolis first baseman Bligh Madris singled on a line drive to left field in the sixth inning, giving him a base hit in each of the first five games of the series. Center fielder Ji-hwan Bae failed to reach base in an 0-4 night, ending a stretch of reaching base in nine of his last 10 games.

Indians outfielder Jack Suwinski made his Triple-A debut in the loss on Saturday, going 0-4. Suwinski, 23, was second among all MLB rookies with 14 home runs, trailing only Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez, prior to being optioned earlier this week by Pittsburgh.

Indianapolis and Columbus conclude their series at Huntington Park tomorrow afternoon with a 4:05 PM ET first pitch before a four-day All-Star break. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for the series finale.