Indians Earn Doubleheader Sweep in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Travis Swaggerty ripped a leadoff home run in the opener of a twin bill at Louisville to set the tone for an Indianapolis Indians sweep over the Bats on Thursday night at Louisville Slugger Field. Indy used a four-run sixth to take the first contest, 5-3, before four pitchers combined on a 1-0 shutout in the nightcap.

Off to its first 0-4 start since 2011 despite holding multi-run leads in three of the losses, Indianapolis (2-4) grabbed another early advantage in the first inning when Swaggerty homered to right-center for his third career leadoff blast in an Indians uniform.

Luis Ortiz cruised through four hitless innings with six punchouts to keep the 1-0 lead intact but endured trouble against the Bats (2-4) in the fifth. Nick Martini singled, and following a TJ Hopkins one-out knock, hustled home on a Chuckie Robinson RBI single.

In the top of the sixth, Tucupita Marcano – who prevented a potential big fifth frame for the Bats with a leaping catch in front of the left field wall – lined a two-run single to right to push the Indians back in front, 3-1. Endy Rodríguez padded the lead with a sacrifice fly ahead of a wild pitch that gave Indy its final run.

Robert Stephenson, making his third rehab appearance for Indianapolis, yielded a two-run home run to Matt McLain in the bottom of the sixth to complete the scoring. Yerry De Los Santos (SV, 1) logged a four-out save and stranded the potential winning run at the plate and on base in the final two innings. Daniel Zamora (W, 1-1) notched one out in relief while Silvino Bracho (L, 0-1) surrendered Marcano’s tiebreaking single.

Swaggerty and Marcano were at it again in the second affair, drilling consecutive triples to record the game’s only run.

Louisville had just two hits and struck out 10 times against Indy’s quartet of Game 2 pitchers – Osvaldo Bido (3.0ip, 1h, 3k), Cody Bolton (2.0ip, 1h, 2k), Yohan Ramirez (1.2ip, 4k) and Angel Perdomo (0.1ip, 1k). Bolton (W, 1-0) grabbed his first win, and Perdomo (SV, 1) secured the shutout. Randy Wynne (L, 0-1) scattered five hits in 3.0 innings pitched.

The pair of wins marked the Indians’ first doubleheader sweep over the Bats since Sept. 1, 2016 at Victory Field. It is also the club’s first road twin bill sweep in Louisville since May 9, 1982, when the Indians earned 6-3 and 5-1 triumphs behind complete games from Greg Harris and Bill Dawley.

Swaggerty went a combined 4-for-7 with a home run, triple, RBI and three runs atop the lineup. Marcano followed suit with a 3-for-7 showing that featured a double, triple, three RBI and one run.

The Indians and Bats continue their series with a 7:15 PM ET start on Friday at Louisville Slugger Field. LHP Caleb Smith (0-1, 15.43) gets the nod for Indy against LHP Brandon Williamson (0-0, 6.00).