Barrage of Doubles Pushes Indians to Within 3.0 Games of International League Lead, 9-6

TOLEDO, Ohio – Behind seven combined doubles from Nick Yorke and Joshua Palacios, the Indianapolis Indians secured their eighth win in their last nine games with a 9-6 win over the Toledo Mud Hens on Wednesday Night at Fifth Third Field.

While Yorke’s three two-baggers tied a previous Indians franchise record, Palacios broke it with his four doubles in the victory. All four of Palacios’ doubles went to left field, which is the opposite field for the left-handed hitter. He became just the sixth International League player since 2005 to log four doubles in a single game. For Yorke, two of the right-handed hitter’s doubles went to left field, while his third peeled into the right field corner in the sixth inning.

Indianapolis’ 19 base hits set a new season high, and was the highest team total since Sept. 19, 2023, against Rochester. The team tally was also the most hits in a road game since April 17, 2018, in Columbus.

After a walk to Ji Hwan Bae and Yorke’s first double, the Indians (34-24, 67-64) scored in the top of the first against Toledo opener Mason Englert (L, 3-1) on a two-run single to center field from Jack Suwinski. Indianapolis plated a run in each of the next three innings: an RBI single from Billy Cook in the second, a run-producing double play in the third, and a sacrifice fly from Jason Delay in the fourth.

The Mud Hens (27-32, 62-71) opened their scoring in the bottom of the second thanks to a run-scoring single from Justice Bigbie. Toledo’s big blow offensively came in the fourth inning against Indians starter Bubba Chandler (W, 3-0), when Óscar Mercado ripped a two-run single to left field before several throwing errors allowed a third run to score on the play to make it a 5-4 game.

Indianapolis responded to Toledo’s crooked number with a solo home run from Matt Gorski in the sixth for his 21st long ball of the year. Delay singled home another run in the seventh, but the Mud Hens cut the deficit to one with a two-run eighth before Delay plated two more insurance runs with a single in the top of the ninth. Delay tallied four RBI in the win despite entering play on Wednesday with just eight runs driven in through his first 34 games.

Despite surrendering five free passes, Chandler, who was just named the No. 22 prospect in all of baseball in the latest update by Baseball America, struck out eight Mud Hens across 5.0 innings while topping at 98.6 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball. Isaac Mattson, Joshua Walker and Connor Sadzeck (S, 7) worked scoreless innings out of the Indians bullpen.

The Indians and Mud Hens play the third game in their six-game set on Thursday at 6:35 PM ET. Right-hander Thomas Harrington (3-1, 3.81) will toe the rubber for the Indians, while the Mud Hens will send southpaw Lael Lockhart (2-7, 5.80) to the mound.