LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Indianapolis Indians fell, 8-7, to the Gwinnett Stripers in extra innings on Friday night at Gwinnett Field. The Indians held the contest’s lead from the second inning, but the Stripers made a late game-tying push in the ninth and grabbed momentum for a 10th-inning walk-off.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single from Gwinnett’s (37-36, 75-72) Brett Wisely off Michael Darrell-Hicks (L, 1-1) halted Indianapolis’ (43-30, 74-74) winning streak at six games. The Indians and Rochester remain tied for the final playoff spot heading into the weekend.
In the top of the second inning, Nick Cimillo sent the first pitch he saw 416 feet to left-center field for a two-run home run, putting the Indians on the board first, 2-0.
Indianapolis capitalized on shaky Gwinnett defense in the third inning to extend their lead, 4-0. With one out, Enmanuel Valdez shot a ball past a diving José Azócar for an RBI triple and plated Mitch Jebb from first base. In the next at-bat, Jesus Castillo hit a ground ball to the third baseman Jordan Groshans, who threw home. Valdez came in safely as the ball got away from Maverick Handley behind the dish, and Handley was credited with a missed catch error.
The Stripers tacked on two runs in the bottom frame, 4-2, off a throwing error by the second baseman Tyler Callihan and an RBI single from Azócar.
In the fifth inning, Castillo hit an RBI single to give Indianapolis some breathing room again, 5-2, but Gwinnett punched right back in the sixth with another two-run frame, 5-4.
The Indians and Stripers each plated another run, making it 6-5 Indianapolis, with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly from Cimillo in the seventh and a solo shot from Jordan Groshans in the eighth.
Cimillo struck again in the ninth with his second sac fly to give Indianapolis a two-run lead. But back-to-back RBI singles by Jim Jarvis and Azócar knotted the game in the bottom of the ninth, 7-7, sending the two teams to extra innings. James Karinchak (W, 4-3) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.
RHP Thomas Harrington (2-7, 6.33) will kick off a crucial weekend for Indianapolis. RHP Davis Polo (0-0, -.--) is scheduled to start for the Stripers and make his Triple-A debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM ET on Saturday night.