INDIANAPOLIS – Khristian Curtis earned the win with a stellar start in his Triple-A debut, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with one hit, two walks and a career-high tying 10 strikeouts as the Indianapolis Indians defeated the Columbus Clippers, 6-1, on Friday night at Victory Field. Joey Bart, who today joined Indy on a major league rehab assignment, launched a two-run homer in the fifth inning and logged three hits.
The Indians (28-39) put up all six of their runs in the fifth inning, started by a sacrifice fly from Jhostynxon Garcia that plated Nick Yorke. With Keiner Delgado already on first base, he stole second and then Nick Cimillo drew a walk to bring up Dominic Fletcher with two on. Fletcher left the yard for the second consecutive contest, putting Indy up 4-0. After Termarr Johnson reached on a passed ball strikeout, Bart capped the frame with a dinger to left field.
Curtis (W, 1-0) was utterly dominant, striking out half of the batters he faced with just three baserunners allowed. Jaden Woods (1.1ip) and Nick Dombkowski (2.0ip) wrapped things up for Indianapolis. Logan Allen (L, 2-2) started for Columbus (36-30) and allowed six runs (5er) in his 5.0 innings of work.
The six-game series between the Clippers and Indians continues with the penultimate contest on Saturday night at 7:05 PM. LHP Hunter Barco (2-5, 4.50) will toe the rubber for Indy with RHP Rorik Maltrud (1-0, 3.74) set to start for Columbus.