Indy's Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss

INDIANAPOLIS - Indy's Eric Wood roped a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Neil Ramírez retired JB Shuck on a lineout and Steven Baron on strikes to seal a two-game sweep for Columbus, 3-2, on Thursday night. Sean Keselica and Jake Brentz kept the Tribe within striking distance with 4.1 shutout innings in relief.

The Clippers (48-30) pushed their division lead over the Indians (41-36) to 6.5 games with the two-game sweep. The two teams were deadlocked at zero through three frames until the visitors broke through against Alex McRae (L, 5-4) in the fourth. McRae beaned Brandon Barnes to start the inning and Barnes eventually took third on a stolen base and throwing error by Baron on the attempt. Mark Mathias later grounded a single through a vacant right side of the infield to make it 1-0.
One inning later, Adam Rosales and Trayce Thompson strung a single and home run together to give the Clippers a 3-0 lead. Thompson's two-run homer was his 19th of the season and sailed onto the right field berm.
Indy came up empty against Clippers starter Aaron Civale most of the night. Civale (W, 2-0) hurled seven scoreless innings and retired the last 11 batters he faced. The Tribe put two runners on in the second and third frames but failed to score.
After the Indians went quietly in the eighth, they made some noise in the ninth against Chih-Wei Hu. Trayvon Robinson singled ahead of two-baggers by Logan Hill and Wood, the latter cutting the deficit to one.
In the two-game sweep, the Indians went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Columbus managed to win both games, despite going 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position and leaving 25 men on base in the set.
The Tribe begin a six-game road trip on Friday night against Gwinnett at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Indianapolis will return to Victory Field on Thursday, July 4 for its annual Independence Day game in the Circle City.