INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians rallied for a walk-off, 6-5 win over the Toledo Mud Hens on Thursday night at Victory Field, with Jesus Castillo scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. It was their first walk-off via wild pitch since Alex Presley scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning on May 30, 2013, vs. Pawtucket. This marked the seventh walk-off wild pitch in the Victory Field era.
With the game knotted 5-5 in the final frame, Castillo walked on four pitches to start the rally. Cameron Barstad then blooped a single into center field that advanced Castillo to third and the Indians (9-6, 40-50) were 90 feet away from victory in a blink. With a 2-0 count to Nick Cimillo, former Indians pitcher Tanner Rainey (L, 3-3) threw the ball away to give Indy a win.
Enmanuel Valdez opened the scoring for the Indians in the bottom of the first, blasting a 434-foot solo homer off the fence below the scoreboard in right center field. Ronny Simon tacked on with an RBI single in the second stanza and Castillo drove in the third run on a fielder’s choice grounder in the third.
The Mud Hens (9-6, 43-46) battled back in the top of the fourth with Trei Cruz hitting an RBI single. Jace Jung then hit a single to follow, as Cruz came around to score after two Indy throwing errors on the play.
Barstad punched back for Indianapolis in the fifth, bringing home Jhostynxon Garcia with an RBI base hit. Gage Workman homered for Toledo in the eighth inning to cut the deficit, 4-3. Simon logged a second run-scoring hit, adding a crucial insurance run for the Indians in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-3.
Mike Clevinger (W, 2-0) allowed two runs in the ninth but escaped a jam to keep the score tied, before the Indians turned the game around and won. José Urquidy started for the Indians and tossed 7.0 innings of two-run ball (1er) with seven strikeouts. His innings and strikeouts matched season highs.
Indy and Toledo continue their six-game series on Friday night at 7:05 PM. RHP Antwone Kelly (4-5, 4.85) is scheduled to start for the Indians while RHP Troy Watson (3-2, 2.85) is set to take the mound for the Mud Hens.