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Lone Louisville Bat Bests Indians, 1-0

Canaan Smith-Njigba roped his first triple of the season for the Indians lone extra-base hit in Wednesday's loss to Louisville. (Photo by Adam Pintar)
May 4, 2022

INDIANAPOLIS – A two-out solo home run in the first inning and a strong start from major league rehabber Luis Castillo was all the Louisville Bats needed to defeat the Indianapolis Indians on Wednesday afternoon, 1-0.

INDIANAPOLIS – A two-out solo home run in the first inning and a strong start from major league rehabber Luis Castillo was all the Louisville Bats needed to defeat the Indianapolis Indians on Wednesday afternoon, 1-0.

The Indians (13-12) stole five bases in six attempts to get into scoring position, marking their first five-steal game since April 20, 2018 vs. Charlotte. It was also the team’s first game with six-plus stolen base attempts since going 4-for-7 on July 17, 2015 at Toledo.

With Jerad Eickhoff (L, 1-2) on the mound, Ronnie Dawson sent a long fly ball to right field to give Louisville (10-16) the only run of the game. It was just one of two hits Eickhoff surrendered in his 4.0-inning start.

Castillo got the start for Louisville on a rehab assignment and struck out seven batters over 4.1 scoreless innings of work. Pedro Payano (W, 1-1) entered in relief and did not allow a hit in 1.2 innings. Joel Kuhnel (S, 3) stranded a pair of runners in the ninth inning to close out the shutout.

The Indians went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position to be shut out for the first time since Sept. 16, 2021 vs. St. Paul. They were last shut out by the Bats on June 23, 2021 at Louisville Slugger Field, 5-0.

Indianapolis will look for it’s first win of the series tomorrow at 11:05 AM ET at Victory Field. LHP Trey McGough (1-0, 0.00) will take the mound for the Indians against LHP Bernardo Flores (0-1, 7.24).