Minor League Baseball (MiLB) News

The Louisville Bats (41-42) and Indianapolis Indians (49-34) traded early home runs in front of a capacity crowd of 14,414, but where Corey Hart went deep on a solo shot, the Bats’ Yorman Rodriguez and Hernan Iribarren homered for a combined five RBIs to down the Tribe 9-2 on Saturday night at Victory Field.

Iribarren finished 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs and Rodriguez went 2-for-5 while scoring once and driving in three runs. Brennan Boesch chipped in a game-high three hits and is batting .420 in 14 Triple-A games.

Indians starter Adrian Sampson (6-7) lost for the fourth time in as many decisions. His counterpart, Dylan Axelrod (6-5), allowed just three fewer hits but allowed only two runs during his sixth win.

Brent Morel singled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games, and is now just one shy of his career-best streak from the 2014 season.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

Indians (49-33) righty Chris Volstad (5-3) made the start and took the loss in place of late-scratch Clayton Richard – who was acquired by the Chicago Cubs just prior to tonight’s game – yielding a two-out triple to Mike Hessman that sent the Mud Hens (36-45) to a 4-1 victory on Friday at Fifth Third Field.

The Lafayette, Indiana native Richard went 3-1 and ranked fourth in the International League with a 1.34 ERA over his final six starts for the Indians. He finished unbeaten at home with a 2-0 record and 1.34 ERA when pitching at Victory Field, and will depart for a now-scheduled Cubs debut tomorrow night against the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.

Alen Hanson and Tony Sanchez both had two hits for the Tribe, while Brent Morel doubled to extend his hit streak to 10 games.

Willy Garcia scored the lone run on a sac fly by Keon Broxton.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

The Indianapolis Indians scored five runs in the top of the second inning and cruised to a 7-3 victory over the Toledo Mud Henson Thursday night. Corey Hart, on rehab assignment for the Pittsburgh Pirates, capped the big frame with a two-run home run that bounced off the video board in left field.

Indianapolis (49-32) struck in the top of the first when John Bowker doubled home two runs. An error by second baseman Alexi Casilla kept the second inning alive and two runs immediately followed, before Hart clubbed his homer. Toledo (35-45) received a solo home run by rehabbing Detroit Tiger Alex Avila, in the bottom of the first, but never led in the game.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

Triple-A rookie Angel Sanchez tied a career high with nine strikeouts over seven shutout innings and Major League rehabbing first baseman Corey Hart scored and drove in a run as the Indianapolis Indians (47-32) edged the Columbus Clippers (42-37), 3-1, Tuesday night at Victory Field.

Sanchez (2-0) faced just three above the minimum in his second straight win. He issued a leadoff walk to open the game before striking out nine of his next 16 batters through the end of the fifth.

Hart returned to the Indians’ lineup for the first time since 2004 and singled on his second pitch to drive in the game’s first run. He then scored from first on Brent Morel’s triple after just beating out the throw from right field and sliding under the tag at home plate.

Shaun Marcum (4-1) took his first loss of the season for Columbus.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

The Columbus Clippers (42-36) scored three runs in the first inning and pounded out 13 total hits in a 6-1 win over the Indianapolis Indians (46-32) on Monday night at Victory Field.

The defeat snapped the Tribe’s winning streak at four games and narrowed its lead in the International League West division to 4.0 games over Columbus.

Jose Ramirez paced his club’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, two triples and three runs scored. Columbus outfielder Jerry Sands homered against his former team to cap the three-run first inning.

Adrian Sampson (6-6) took the loss with four runs over six innings of work. Brent Morel continued his torrid stretch and doubled as one of only three hits for the Indians. He is now 11-for-28 with three doubles and five homers during his seven-game hit streak.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

Clayton Richard had another dominant outing and Brent Morel collected two more hits with a pair of RBIs to help the Indianapolis Indians (46-31) sweep the Syracuse Chiefs (26-51) on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

Morel doubled and scored to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth. He added a second two-base hit in the seventh, a two-run double off Rafael Martin, and is now 10-for-24 (.417) with two doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs in his last six games.

Richard (4-2) earned the win by pitching into the seventh inning for the fourth time in six starts. His only run was a homer to Jason Martinson, and he finished his gem by retiring 19 of the final 20 batters in the Tribe’s 5-1 victory.

Richard is 3-1 with the league’s fourth-best ERA (1.34) since May 29.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

Brent Morel homered for the third straight game and Wilfredo Boscan and AJ Morris combined on a shutout as the Indianapolis Indians (45-31) beat the Syracuse Chiefs (26-50) 4-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 15,144 on Saturday night at Victory Field.

Morel now leads all of Minor League Baseball with five home runs in his last eight games. He went deep tonight in the first inning off spot starter Paulo Espino (2-1), and was followed by John Bowker’s mammoth solo homer that bounced into the street outside of the ballpark.

Tribe starter Boscan (5-3) struck out five over five innings for the win and Morris completed a four-inning save with four scattered hits and two strikeouts.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

Starter Radhames Liz retired 12 of 14 batters, Brent Morel homered for the fourth time in seven games and the Indianapolis Indians (44-31) defeated the Syracuse Chiefs (26-49) 9-1 on Friday night at Victory Field.

Indianapolis scored six of its nine runs in the opening frame before Morel went deep with a solo homer in the second inning. Steve Lombardozzi also chipped in three hits and scored a pair of runs.

Liz, making his first start since July 28, 2014, cruised with six strikeouts, a lone single and a hit batter. He gave way to Brad Lincoln (4-0), who earned the win with no earned runs (one run) over two innings of work.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

The Indianapolis Indians (43-31) salvaged their series finale against the Gwinnett Braves (36-36) to snap a six-game losing streak and win 4-3 on Thursday night at Coolray Field.

Brent Morel homered and drove in three runs and Gustavo Nunez made a clutch defensive play up the middle to strand the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.

Tribe starter Angel Sanchez (1-0) earned his first Triple-A victory with three runs in six innings of work. John Holdzkom worked a perfect seventh and eighth and Blake Wood pitched the ninth for his league-high 19th save.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians