Indians Bullpen Flourishes in Series-Clinching Victory

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians tallied three runs in the first inning to defeat the Buffalo Bisons in Sunday’s series finale at Victory Field, 8-3. The Indians are now 13-5 at home with three series wins.

Following an RBI single by Orelvis Martinez to give Buffalo (18-14), an early lead, Indianapolis took over in its first chance at the plate. Nick Gonzales smacked a line-drive double off former Indian Beau Sulser (L, 0-1) to jumpstart the offense, his first of two doubles in the game. He then scored on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Malcom Nuñez. Two batters later, Matt Gorski singled home Jake Lamb to take the lead.

In the fourth, the Indians (16-14) boosted their lead after a Bisons pitching change when Luis Quinones allowed Dustin Peterson to score on a wild pitch. Gonzales followed with a ground-rule double over the center-field fence to score Andrés Alvarez.

Buffalo scored one run in the fifth inning, but it was soon erased by three additional runs scored by Indianapolis.

Paul Skenes, making his seventh Triple-A start, gave up his first home run of the season to Will Robertson and surrendered two earned runs in 4.1 innings with four strikeouts. Ben Heller (W, 1-0) struck out each of his five batters faced in relief of Skenes. Heller, Carmen Mlodzinski, Geronimo Franzua and Brent Honeywell combined for 4.2 innings of two-hit ball with eight strikeouts.

Dustin Peterson highlighted Indy’s offense with three hits for his first multi-hit game of the season and his most hits in a single game since July 2, 2022, with Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Syracuse.

The Indians have Monday off before heading to Louisville for a six-game series with the Reds-affiliated Bats. First pitch of the series from Louisville Slugger Field will be at 6:35 PM ET on Tuesday. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher.