Melendez smacks homers No. 40 and 41 in Sunday loss to Indianapolis

PAPILLION, Neb. -- Catcher MJ Melendez hit two home runs—his 40th and 41st of the season—but the Omaha Storm Chasers fell to the Indianapolis Indians, 17-12, on Sunday at Werner Park. Omaha (69-56, 3-2) finishes the 2021 season with a 37-28 record at Werner Park.

Indianapolis (59-65, 2-3) jumped out to an early lead against left-hander Angel Zerpa (Loss, 0-1), who made his Triple-A debut, on solo home run by Oneil Cruz to lead off the game. The Indians broke the game open in the second, scoring seven runs on four hits, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, an error against Zerpa, right-hander Ruben Ramirez, and right-hander Andres Núñez.

Omaha stormed back with seven unanswered runs between the next two innings, scoring two runs in the second and five in the third. Melendez blasted his 40th home run of the season in the second inning, a two-run shot to left field. Melendez, who leads Minor League Baseball in home runs, is the second catcher since 1995 (Todd Greene) to hit at least 40 home runs in a single minor league season. He is the third Kansas City Royals minor leaguer—joining Chris Hatcher (46, 1998) and Brandon Berger (40, 2001)—to record a 40+ homer season. Melendez' 40-homer season is the first in Minor League Baseball since Dylan Cozens (40, 2016).

First baseman Nick Pratto led off the third inning with a solo home run—his 34th of the season and third of the series—before an error, fielder's choice, and RBI single from left fielder Dairon Blanco brought in the second run of the inning. Right fielder Erick Mejia followed with an RBI automatic double over the right-field wall and centerfielder Lucius Fox capped the inning with a two-run single up the middle.

Fox went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs to extend his hitting streak to seven games.

Indianapolis punched back, scoring five runs in the fourth against left-hander Austin Cox—who made his Triple-A debut—on a pair of two-run homers by Michael Chavis and Christian Bethancourt and a solo homer from Hunter Owen. The Indians added three in the fifth on RBI singles by Rodolfo Castro and Bethancourt, and a sacrifice fly by Bligh Madris.

Omaha pulled back within six in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring three runs on three hits, including back-to-back RBI doubles against right-hander Matt Eckelman (Win, 5-3) from second baseman Gabriel Cancel and Fox. Cancel drove in two with a double down the left-field line before Fox brought in the inning's final run with a double off the right-center field fence.

Cancel went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs.

Left-hander Josh Dye made his Triple-A debut in the seventh, striking out two in a scoreless inning before yielding a run in the eighth on a solo home run by Bethancourt.

Melendez launched his second home run of the game and 41st of the season in the ninth, a two-run homer to cut the deficit to seven.

Sunday's game marked Storm Chasers manager Brian Poldberg's final home game as manager. He enters the final five games of the season with 1,352 wins in 21 seasons as a manager and 477 wins across seven seasons with Omaha.

With three home runs on Sunday, the Storm Chasers have hit 12 home runs during the Triple-A Final Stretch, amounting to a $600 donation from Minor League Baseball to B&B Sports Academy. Whichever Triple-A team finishes the Triple-A Final Stretch with the most home runs earns an additional $5000 donation to their selected charity.

The Storm Chasers conclude the season with a five-game series against the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park in Des Moines from Wednesday, September 29, through Sunday, October 3. First pitch for the series opener on Wednesday is scheduled for 12:08 p.m. and coverage begins at 11:45 a.m. with the Sarpy County Tourism Pregame Show on 1180 The Zone.

Ticket packages for the 2022 season, as well as Chasers Blue Books and undated voucher packs, are available for purchase through the Werner Park Ticket Office. For more information, visit omahastormchasers.com or call the Werner Park Ticket Office at (402) 738-5100 and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.