Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (69-63) at Omaha Storm Chasers (64-69)
September 10, 2022 – International League (IL) – Indianapolis Indians News Release
LOCATION: Werner Park
FIRST PITCH: 7:35 PM ET
GAME #133 / ROAD #70: Indianapolis Indians (69-63) at Omaha Storm Chasers (64-69)
PROBABLES: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (6-5, 4.57) vs. LHP Angel Zerpa (0-0, 9.00)
RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / iHeart app
TV: MiLB TV
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: After relinquishing a late lead, left fielder Blake Sabol’s two-run home run in the ninth inning powered the Indianapolis Indians to a win over the Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park on Friday night, 7-5. With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the eighth, the Indians tagged Storm Chasers reliever Ryan Weiss for four straight balls hit to right field and jumped ahead with RBI singles from Jose Godoy and Jared Oliva. In the bottom of the inning, however, Omaha came back to tie the game on an RBI single from third baseman Nick Loftin and a wild pitch from Hanhold. Tied at five in the ninth inning, Indians shortstop Diego Castillo led off the top of the inning with a walk against the Storm Chasers reliever Wyatt Mills. After inducing a flyout, Sabol blasted a tie-breaking two-run home run that snuck over the wall in straight away right field. Indians closer Eric Hanhold, who had come on to attempt a four-out save in the bottom of the eighth, shut the door to preserve the win by inducing a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
SABOL CALLED GAME: Blake Sabol came in clutch with a two-run bomb in the ninth inning to put the Indians past the Storm Chasers on Friday night. It was his third home run with Indianapolis since being promoted from Double-A Altoona early last week, and his second in as many nights after hitting a solo shot in the eighth inning on Thursday night. Last night was Sabol’s second multi-hit game since making his debut with Indy on Aug. 31, he is hitting .300 (8-for-27) with six runs scored, a triple, three home runs, six RBI and six walks in nine games with Indianapolis. He has now reached base safely in 19 of his last 20 games between Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona – collecting a hit in 18 of the games. During this stretch, he is hitting .356 average (26-for-73) with five doubles, two triples, five home runs, 13 RBI and 15 runs scored.
ALL IN OLIVA: Center fielder Jared Oliva’s RBI single in the eighth extended his hitting streak to eight games. Offensively, in 19 games since Aug. 3, the 26-year-old is hitting .406 (26-for-64) with seven doubles, a triple, a home run, 11 RBI and six stolen bases. During this stretch, he has bumped his season-AVG from .207 to .258. Defensively, the outfielder hasn’t committed an error in 75 consecutive games dating back to 4/16, which is the fourth-longest active streak in the International League.
MULTI-HIT MADRIS: Bligh Madris tallied his fourth consecutive multi-hit game in Friday night’s victory. After going 0-for-9 in his first two games following being optioned to Indy on Aug.29, he has since caught fire. In his last eight games, he is hitting .400 (12-for-30) with three doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI and three runs scored. Madris has multiple hits in five of his eight games to start September. Madris is hitting .298 (73-for-245) with 19 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, 31 RBI and an .864 OPS in 69 games with Indy this season.
EXTRA BASES FOR MARTIN: Last night, Mason Martin roped his team-leading 26th double and seventh since Aug. 23 – tied for the second-most doubles during that span. The lefty slugger has roped four extra-base hits in as many games and now has 48 extra-base hits this season which is tied for the sixth-most in the International League.
BIDO AT HIS BEST: Osvaldo Bido fanned seven batters for the third time in his last four outings last night, tossing 5.0 innings and surrendering three runs. In his last five outings, he is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA (5er/26.0ip) and 27 strikeouts. Since Aug. 17, Bido is among International League leaders in strikeouts (27, T-1st), innings pitched (26.0, 1st), AVG against (.174, 3rd), WHIP (1.00, T-5th) and ERA (1.73, 6th).
TONIGHT: After going 5-1 through the first leg of the 13-game road trip thanks to a season-high tying five-game winning streak, the Indians are behind 3-2 in the seven-game set with the Storm Chasers and will look to even the series tonight at Werner Park at 7:35 PM ET. The Indians are in danger of losing their first series since July 12-16 at Columbus (4-1). Coming into tonight, the Indians and Storm Chasers have split their previous 16 matchups with just two remaining matchups at Werner Park. For the Indians, right-hander Jerad Eickhoff will take the mound for his 18th start of the season. Countering for Omaha will be major league rehabber Angel Zerpa, who has made one appearance against the Indians last season. The southpaw surrendered three runs in 1.1 innings on 9/26/21.
WORKHORSE: Jerad Eickhoff will take the mound for Indianapolis in his third outing against the Storm Chasers this season. Eickhoff has allowed only one run in 8.2 innings in his two previous appearances against Omaha. After a stellar outing on Sunday night in which he tossed 5.0 innings to earn his sixth win, Jerad Eickhoff became the first Indians pitcher to surpass the 100-inning mark this season. With the outing in which he allowed just five baserunners via base hit in as many innings. Each of his last four starts and 11 of 17 starts this season have lasted at least 5.0 innings.
THIS DAY IN 1954: Tribe 21-year-old southpaw Herb Score lost a 2-1 decision to St. Paul in his final appearance of the season but still finished 22-5 with 330 strikeouts in 251.0 innings. He led the American Association in wins, winning percentage (.815), ERA (2.62) and strikeouts. His 330 strikeouts shattered the previous league record of 264 strikeouts by Columbus’ Charles Berger in 1906 and was never broken as the American Association disbanded following the 1997 season.
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