Bae and Lamb combined for seven hits in victory
By Brooks Riley
INDIANAPOLIS – Ji Hwan Bae energized the offense with four hits and all 10 batters to appear for the Indianapolis Indians recorded at least one base knock in a 14-5 rout over the Buffalo Bisons at Victory Field on Wednesday 5/1 afternoon.
Bae continued to excel at the plate, finishing the game one hit shy of tying his career-high from April 29, 2022, at Iowa. The utilityman is hitting .391 (18-for-46) in 12 games with Indianapolis after going 4-for-6 with two runs, a double, RBI and stolen bases against Buffalo.
Indianapolis (14-12) jumped on the board in the first inning with three runs on a two-run single from Yasmani Grandal and a run-scoring groundout from Liover Peguero. The Indians did not look back, putting up 14 runs on 17 hit to never relinquish the lead.
Buffalo (16-12) cut into the lead in the second with a two-run blast courtesy of Steward Berroa, but the effort was quickly dismissed by a five-run frame by Indianapolis. In his first plate appearance at Victory Field, Andrés Alvarez launched his first home run of the season to deep center field to jumpstart the scoring. Three errors, two singles, an RBI groundout and double led to four additional runs scoring in the inning.
The Bisons made another offensive push in the top of the third, as Orelvis Martinez and Damiano Palmegiani launched back-to-back solo shots off southpaw Eric Lauer. Indy countered with one run in the fourth, four runs in the fifth on three RBI singles and a bases-loaded walk, and one run in the sixth to erase Buffalo’s effort and extend the lead.
As a team, the Indians’ season-high 14 runs on 17 hits included five doubles, a triple and home run. Two doubles came off the bat of Jake Lamb, with Matt Gorski tagging on his third three-bagger of the season.
Lauer started his fourth game for the Indians and allowed four runs off eight hits in 4.0 innings of work. After exiting the game, Brad Case (W, 1-0), Ryder Ryan and Fineas Del Bonta-Smith tossed 5.0 innings of one-run baseball.
Bisons starter Paolo Espino (L, 0-1) surrendered eight runs (four earned) in 1.2 innings pitched.
Indianapolis sent double-digit batters to the plate in both the second and fifth innings, marking the first time the team batted around the order twice in the same game since Sept. 11, 2022, at Omaha in a 19-9 Indians victory.
Indianapolis and Buffalo will square off in the third game of the six-game set 5/2 at 6:35 PM ET. LHP Cam Alldred (0-3, 9.00) gets the nod for Indy against RHP Chad Dallas (0-1, 7.04).
Originally posted on milb.com/indianapolis