Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in Indians Streak-Snapping Loss

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians put up three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the comeback attempt fell short as the Louisville Bats took the series finale on Saturday night at Victory Field, 8-5. The loss snapped Indy’s season-high tying four-game win streak.

After Louisville (4-7, 42-43) put up four runs in the top half of the ninth inning, Seth Beer led off the bottom half with a solo home run to spark the rally. The next four batters also reached safely, with back-to-back doubles by Matt Gorski and Matt Fraizer scoring one, and back-to-back singles by Andrés Alvarez and Ji Hwan Bae plating another. With two runners in scoring position, the threat was silenced on three straight strikeouts by Tony Santillan and Evan Kravetz (S, 1).

The Bats got on the board in the first inning with a solo home run by Rece Hinds and Indianapolis (5-6, 38-46) tied up the game in the third on an RBI single by Bae. A two-run double by Hinds and RBI single by P.J. Higgins against Marco Gonzales (L, 0-1) in the fifth then gave Louisville a lead it did not relinquish.

Julian Aguiar (W, 1-0) fanned six across 6.0 one-run innings as Louisville took its lead.

As the second arm out of the bullpen for Indianapolis, Braxton Ashcraft – in his first appearance after being activated from the injured list earlier in the day – tossed 3.0 innings with three walks and no strikeouts. He has allowed just one run in 18.1 Triple-A innings since making his Indians debut on June 13 at Jacksonville.

Bae went 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead the Indians offense and record his seventh multi-hit performance in his last 12 games. Henry Davis and Matt Fraizer each followed with two hits apiece.

The Indians have two days off in the Circle City before beginning a six-game series vs. the Columbus Clippers, Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Tuesday at 7:05 PM. Neither team has named a starter for the opening contest.