LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a wild back-and-forth contest that saw the two clubs change leads multiple times late, Ronny Simon smashed the go-ahead single as the Indianapolis Indians scored three in the ninth to defeat the Louisville Bats on Saturday night at Louisville Slugger Field, 7-4. The Indians have won four of the first five games in the series.
The game was tied entering the ninth, but the patience of Indianapolis (21-11, 52-55) at the plate helped lead to three runs. Termarr Johnson and Mitch Jebb worked walks to open the inning, and Simon then hit a hard single to center field. It plated Johnson and moved Jebb to third. Jebb strolled home when Jonathan Rodríguez singled to right, and the inning was capped when Enmanuel Valdez hit a sacrifice fly to left field to advance Simon home.
Indy held a 2-0 lead but saw it vanish with a Louisville rally in the sixth. Down 3-2, Tyler Callihan opened the seventh with a single. Two outs later, Jebb reached on an infield hit to extend the inning. After Simon walked, the bases were loaded with two down for Rodríguez. He responded with a bouncer of a single up the middle that plated two, and put Indy ahead, 4-3. Michael Toglia went on to homer for the Bats (10-22, 49-56) to tie the game and set up the drama of the ninth.
Simon’s big night began with a sacrifice fly in the first inning that scored Johnson shortly after he had doubled. Simon belted his seventh home run of the season in the top of the sixth, a shot that sailed 405 feet. His evening was capped with the go-ahead single that moved his batting average to .330 on the campaign.
Derek Diamond (W, 4-0) allowed the Toglia homer but he worked a routine ninth inning to earn the victory. Five different Indians pitchers combined to author the bullpen game that lacked a true starter.
Johnathan Lavallee (L, 0-2) pitched the ninth and was handed the loss for Louisville.
The Indians and Bats conclude their series on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field with first pitch set for 1:05 PM. Indy has secured a series victory by winning four of the first five games.