Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (74-74) at Columbus Clippers (84-64)

September 28, 2022 – International League (IL) – Indianapolis Indians News Release

LOCATION: Huntington Park

FIRST PITCH: 6:15 PM ET

GAME #149 / Road #74: Indianapolis Indians (74-74) at Columbus Clippers (84-64)

PROBABLES: RHP Mike Burrows (1-3, 4.10) vs. LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 6.00)

RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / Fox Sports 1260 / iHeart app (Game joined in-progress at 7 PM)

TV: MiLB TV

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Indians struck for their lone run with an unearned run against Clippers starter Logan Allen in the top of the first inning. Jared Oliva chopped a ground ball down the third base line, and former Indianapolis Indian Mitchell Tolman sailed a cross-diamond throw over first baseman Jhonkensy Noel’s head, allowing Oliva to advance to second. On Oliva’s attempted steal of third, Tolman whiffed the throw from catcher Bryan Lavastida, allowing the runner to score on the second error by the third baseman in a matter of pitches. With the Indians leading 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Clippers jumped ahead with three runs thanks to a two-run single from Lavastida, who came in to score on a wild pitch. Indy’s starter Quinn Priester was chased from the game in the fifth by a solo home run from Clippers designated hitter Nolan Jones to straight-away center. Columbus put the finishing touches on its offensive output in the bottom of the sixth, with center fielder Oscar Mercado plating two with a double down the left field line before coming in to score on a wild pitch.

SEASON FINALE: With a 74-74 record entering their final game of the season, the Indians have one game to break a stretch of two consecutive seasons with a record below .500. They have clinched at least a tie for fourth place in the 10-team International League West division, with St. Paul currently trailing Indianapolis by one game. The Indians have finished in the top four of their respective division in both seasons of the two-year, 20-team IL after finishing fourth among seven Triple-A East Midwest Division teams last season.

TONIGHT: The Indians conclude their 2022 campaign tonight at 6:15 PM ET as they look to avoid a sweep at the hands of Columbus in the three-game series at Huntington Park. They have now lost six consecutive games at Huntington Park. In five games in Columbus from July 12-16, with the finale being postponed due to inclement weather and then canceled as part of a doubleheader originally scheduled for yesterday, the Indians went 1-4 with four consecutive losses to end the series. At Victory Field, however, the Indians went 7-5 against the Clippers. Taking the mound in the series finale tonight is RHP Mike Burrows (1-3, 4.10), who will make his first start since Aug. 28 after spending the past month on the injured list. Countering for Columbus will be LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 6.00), who has never faced Indianapolis.

BURROWS IS BACK: Mike Burrows has been activated from the injured list today to make his final start of 2022 after spending the last month on the sidelines. Since making his Triple-A debut on June 19 at Gwinnett, Burrows has gone 1-3 with a 4.10 ERA (19er/41.2ip) and 42 strikeouts in 11 games (nine starts) with Indianapolis. He did not surrender a run over his last two starts, allowing just four hits with eight strikeouts in 7.0 shutout innngs against Iowa and Rochester combined.

TRIPLE-A TRIPLE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND: Following the conclusion of the regular season today, four Triple-A teams will travel to Las Vegas for the inaugural Triple-A Triple Championship Weekend. The weekend begins when the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) will face off against the Reno Aces (Arizona) for the Pacific Coast League Championship. On Saturday, the International League West Champion Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee) will battle the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) for the IL title. The weekend concludes on Sunday, when the winners of the first two games face off in the 2022 Triple-A National Championship. Of the four teams headed out to Nevada, Reno, Durham and Nashville each have two former Indianapolis Indians on their current active rosters. Each of those players and when they last appeared with the Indians are listed below.

Durham – C Joe Hudson (2021), 1B/OF Bligh Madris (2022)

Reno – RHP Sean Poppen (2021), INF/OF Cole Tucker (2022)

Nashville – RHP Josh Lindblom (2017), INF Pablo Reyes (2019)

AT THE VIC: The Indians finished off their home slate of games on Saturday night with a 41-34 record after going 4-8 through the final 12-game homestand. This season marks their 18th campaign with a winning record at home since becoming a Pirates affiliate in 2005 and 21st season in Victory Field history.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Ji-Hwan Bae was an everyday difference maker for the Indians to be named the 2022 Team MVP on Saturday. Rotating between second base (57 games/53 starts), third base (1 game/0 starts), shortstop (24 games/20 starts), left field (8 starts) and center field (20 games/19 starts) over 108 total games, he consistently performed at a high offensive level and leads all Indians qualifiers with a .289 average, .362 on-base percentage, .430 slugging percentage, .792 OPS, 121 hits, 81 runs scored and 30 stolen bases.

GOLD GLOVE: Jared Oliva has strung together a streak of 90 consecutive games without an error since April 16 – the second-longest streak in the International League this season – to be named Indy’s Gold Glove Award recipient. The streak is the longest by an Indians fielder since Will Craig (89 games) in 2019 and is Oliva’s longest since not committing an error over his entire 2019 season with Double-A Altoona (114 games).

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