Fraizer, Peguero and Williams combined for 10 hits in the victory
By Brooks Riley
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians relied on timely hitting and a solid outing from Domingo Germán to defeat the Iowa Cubs, 4-2, on Tuesday evening in the series opener at Victory Field.
With the game knotted at 2-2 following a two-run triple by Hayden Cantrelle in the I-Cubs (31-39) half of the fifth inning, Indianapolis responded immediately to take the lead. The first three batters of the inning reached base safely, with a leadoff walk to Andrés Alvarez coming around to score the go-ahead run on a Canaan Smith-Njgba sacrifice fly. In the sixth, back-to-back doubles by Alvarez and Matt Fraizer plated an insurance run.
Matt Gorski kickstarted the Indians (30-38) offense with his 14th home run of the season in the second inning. Pirates rehabber Alika Williams then extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with a single to score Fraizer, who roped his first double of the contest to lead off the frame.
Germán (W, 1-4) cruised through a season-high 6.0 innings with five strikeouts. After exiting the game, Geronimo Franzua and Brent Honeywell (S, 5) combined for three strikeouts in three innings pitched to limit Iowa’s offense. Across his last 10 appearances, Honeywell owns a 1.88 ERA (3er/14.1ip) and 10 strikeouts, a stretch which includes three scoreless appearances (4.0ip) against Iowa.
Thomas Pannone (L, 4-6) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up eight hits and three earned runs to take his third loss of the season against Indianapolis.
Liover Peguero singled four times in the victory and swiped two bases to lead the team in both categories. Fraizer joined in on the hit parade, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. Williams was also at the center of the offense, going 3-for-5 with an RBI.
The Indians and I-Cubs continue their six-game set at Victory Field at 7:05 PM ET on Tuesday night. RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-0, 1.50) – Pittsburgh’s No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline – is scheduled to make his home debut against RHP Kyle McGowin (0-0, 9.00).
Originally posted on milb.com/indianapolis