Bae blasts solo home run in Indians’ 5-1 loss
By Cheyne Reiter
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Ji Hwan Bae belted a game-tying solo home run in the sixth inning, but Jesús Aguilar grounded a go-ahead single in the bottom half to back a career-high tying 10-strikeout performance by Allan Winans as the Gwinnett Stripers topped the Indianapolis Indians 5-1 on Saturday night.
Scoreless at the midway point, Gwinnett (48-58, 15-16) grabbed its first lead in the fifth on a 435-foot solo home run by Daniel Robertson, his first of the season. Indianapolis (50-56, 17-15) leveled the score in its next at bat on a first-pitch, 426-foot home run by Bae, but Aguilar followed a pair of singles in the Stripers’ sixth with one of his own to put the home team in front for good.
The Stripers added three insurance runs with two outs in the eighth off Yohan Ramirez. Braden Shewmake laced a two-run single after a bases-loaded wild pitch to put away the Indians.
Playing in just his second career Triple-A game, Francisco Acuña nearly put Indy in front in the fifth with a two-out double into the left-field corner, but Grant Koch was cut down at the plate on a relay throw by shortstop Vaughn Grissom.
Winans (W, 8-3) improved to 5-0 in his last 10 appearances (eight starts) with 7.0 innings of one-run ball. He scattered four hits and two walks, and his 10 punchouts marked a season high by a Stripers’ pitcher. Cam Alldred (L, 7-4) posted a quality start in defeat, yielding two earned runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
Miguel Andújar recorded an infield single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
The Indians and Stripers conclude their six-game series on Sunday at 1:05 PM ET. RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (1-2, 4.44), currently ranked as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect by MLB.com, is scheduled to take the bump for Gwinnett while Indy has yet to name its starter.
Originally posted on milb.com