Smith-Njigba and Gonzales each recorded three hits
By Anna Kayser
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians offense continued its dominance over the Rochester Red Wings with another double-digit outpouring behind four multi-hit performances, Canaan Smith-Njigba’s second home run in as many days and Joe Perez’s four-RBI showing in Wednesday afternoon’s 14-11 win at Victory Field.
Smith-Njigba, one of the International League’s hottest hitters in the month of September, quickly got things started for Indianapolis (68-76, 35-35) with its second first-inning homer in as many days. The long ball, which flew 456 feet out to right-center field, extended the outfielder’s home run streak after he launched a tiebreaking two-run shot in Tuesday’s 19-1 rout.
Rochester (64-78, 30-39) tied the game in the top of the fourth inning against Aaron Shortridge (W, 1-0), who was promoted from Double-A Altoona on Tuesday for his Triple-A debut. The right-hander tossed 5.0 one-hit innings with four walks and three strikeouts and exited the game in line for the win after a three-run homer by Perez gave Indy the lead back in the bottom of the fourth.
The Indians continued to pour on runs, following Perez’s three-run blast with three additional crooked frames. A pair of errors and three consecutive RBI singles by the bottom half of the batting order quickly gave Indianapolis an 8-1 lead through five.
A walk and four consecutive singles by the Red Wings in the top of the sixth against Thomas Hatch, who was optioned by Pittsburgh on Tuesday, brought Rochester closer, but the five-run margin didn’t last long, with Indianapolis plating six runs in its next two half innings at the plate. Smith-Njigba bookended the scoring with RBI singles in this sixth and seventh frames, the latter following Nick Gonzales’ second triple in as many games that plated a pair.
With the Indians leading 14-4 in the top of the ninth inning, the Red Wings rallied for seven runs, all scoring with two outs. The first four runs scored on four consecutive hits before Richie Martin homered to left field to cap the scoring. With the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Travis MacGregor (S, 3) entered in relief of John O’Reilly and recorded the final out of the game.
Perez’s four RBI marked a season high while Gonzales and Smith-Njigba finished the day with three hits apiece. Gonzales is now tied for the IL lead with eight triples.
The Indians, who have scored 33 runs in their past 16 offensive innings, will look to take a 3-0 series lead tomorrow at 6:35 PM ET at Victory Field. RHP Jared Jones (4-4, 4.77) will take the mound for Indy against RHP Roddery Muñoz (2-5, 6.23).
Originally posted on milb.com