Game Information: St. Paul Saints (69-75) vs. Indianapolis Indians (74-70)
September 23, 2022 – International League (IL) – Indianapolis Indians News Release
LOCATION: Victory Field
FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET
GAME #145 / Home #74: St. Paul Saints (69-75) vs. Indianapolis Indians (74-70)
PROBABLES: RHP Dereck Rodriguez (7-4, 5.02) vs. RHP Peter Solomon (0-0, 8.10)
RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / Fox Sports 1260 / iHeart app
TV: MiLB TV
ABOUT YESTERDAY: Mason Martin belted his team-high 18th home run of the season and Endy Rodriguez went opposite field for his first career triple at the Triple-A level, as the Indianapolis Indians earned their fourth-straight victory and clinched a series win over the St. Paul Saints on Thursday night, 6-4. Leading 3-1, with one out in the sixth, Martin opened up the Indians second three-run frame when he ripped a 3-2 pitch onto the berm over the right field fence. Walks issued to Jared Oliva and Tucupita Marcano put runners on the corners, Rodriguez cracked a triple into the gap in deep left-center field that plated both runners, extending the lead to 6-1. St. Paul would rally to score a pair in the eighth to cut its deficit to 6-3 with a two-run double courtesy of Andrew Bechtold. Down three with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Roy Morales singled to put the Saints within two runs. Southpaw Cam Vieaux would go on to strikeout the next two batters to slam the door the Saints comeback efforts.
THROW ‘EM A CHAIR: The Indians pitching staff combined for 14 punchouts on Thursday night, marking the fifth consecutive game where they fanned 10-plus opponents. Since Sept. 16, they lead the International League in strikeouts (76). They have the second-most strikeouts amongst International League teams for the month of September (196), only trailing Columbus (219). Starting pitcher Osvaldo Bido leads the staff with 29 strikeouts this month — the right-hander tossed his second career-high 10-strikeout performance (also: June 5, 2019 with Single-A West Virginia vs. Charleston) in his last outing on Tuesday night.
TRENDY ENDY: Endy Rodriguez has made himself a prospect to remember throughout his outstanding season, currently ranked Pittsburgh’s No. 6 prospect and No. 100 in all of Minor League Baseball. Rodriguez has shined in his first three Triple-A games at Victory Field after an impressive season with High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. Last night, he clubbed his first Triple-A three bagger and batter in two more runs. In three games with Indy, he is hitting .545 (6-for-11) with a run scored, two doubles, a triple, a sacrifice fly and seven runs batted in. He has an extra-base hit in all three games he’s played. The 22-year-old currently leads all Pirates farmhands with 94 RBI, A .588 slugging percentage, .996 OPS, 144 total hits, 39 doubles, 66 extra-base hits, 260 total bases and 91 runs scored. This season, he has more multi-hit games (39) than hitless games (32).
DOING OLIVA IT: Jared Oliva has done nothing but hit, steal bags and flash the leather in the outfield over the past two months. Last night, he went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a diving snag in right field to take away extra bases from Chris Williams and swiped his 20th bag of the season. On Wednesday afternoon, he posted his sixth three-hit performance of the season, three of which have come in the month of September. Since Aug. 3, Oliva is hitting .377 (40-for-106) with 19 runs scored, 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs, 20 RBI and nine stolen bases in 10 attempts. During this span, he has hit safely in 24 of his 31 games. Defensively, the outfielder is currently riding an 87-game errorless streak – which is the second-longest active streak in the International League and tied for the second longest this season.
DINGERS: The Indians have slugged 25 dingers this month – tied for the third-most in the International League – and 13 home runs in their last 9 games. They have homered in each of the first four games of their current six-game set with St. Paul and have outslugged the Saints six home runs to three. This is the most home runs the squad has tallied in a month since May (27) with six more games remaining this month to add to the total. Blake Sabol, who launched a home run in yesterday’s contest, leads the team with five home runs this month, followed by Brendt Citta, Jose Godoy and Mason Martin who each have three blasts.
TODAY: The Indians are riding a four-game winning streak, clinching the series victory on Thursday night and looking at a chance to sweep the six-game set with the St. Paul Saints with wins on Friday and Saturday night. Tonight, they continue the six-game series with St. Paul to conclude their 2022 home schedule at 7:05 PM ET at Victory Field. The two squads are meeting for the fourth time this season and the second time at Victory Field. They first met at CHS Field on April 12-17 and then May 24-29, with the Saints taking seven of those 12 games and the Indians take six of seven games at Victory Field with two games remaining. Taking the mound for Indianapolis today is RHP Peter Solomon (0-0, 8.10), who will be making his 21st start of the season and third start with the Indians. Tonight, will be Solomon’s first career start against St. Paul. Countering for the Saints will be RHP Dereck Rodriguez (7-4, 5.02), who will make his third start of the season against Indianapolis. The Indians have tagged Rodriguez for seven runs in 5.2 innings.
BAE GETS THE CALL: The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today they have selected the contract of super utilityman Ji-Hwan Bae, their No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He will be the 11th Indianapolis Indian from the 2022 squad to make his MLB debut. Bae has appeared in 108 games with Indianapolis and leads the team with a .289 average (121-for-419) this season. The left-handed hitter currently ranks among International League leaders in triples (T-5th, 6). runs (T-7th, 80) and stolen bases (T-6th, 31).
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