Indians Even Series with Iowa

INDIANAPOLIS – Two early home runs from Rafael Flores and Sammy Siani powered the Indianapolis Indians to an 8-3 win over the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday afternoon at Victory Field.

The Indians (37-28, 79-60) jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the first inning. Alika Williams led off with a single, Sammy Siani walked and Nick Solak ripped a double down the left field line to plate Williams for a 1-0 lead. Rafael Flores then launched a three-run home run 422 feet to the shrubbery in center field.

In the bottom of the second inning, Siani hit a solo homer to extend the lead, 5-0. Indy added a sixth run in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Solak.

Jonathan Long got the I-Cubs (33-32, 72-67) in the run column with a solo homer in the fifth inning, his 20th of the campaign. He later cut the deficit, 6-2, with an RBI single in the seventh frame. Caleb Knight was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat to load the bases and Nicky Lopez brought the third Iowa run home on a sacrifice fly.

Indy got a run back in the bottom half of the seventh when Anthony Prato came around to score on a throwing error by center fielder Owen Caissie. Solak added one more insurance run in the eighth to extend the lead, 8-3, with an RBI single.

Drake Fellows tossed 4.2 innings of one-run ball, giving way to Ryder Ryan (W, 6-1), who allowed two runs across 3.1 innings. Cam Sanders tossed a scoreless ninth inning to seal the win

Antonio Santos (L, 0-3) started for Iowa and allowed five runs across 3.0 innings.

The six-game series between Indy and Iowa continues on Thursday night at 6:35 PM. LHP Hunter Barco (3-1, 3.93) is set to start for the Indians and LHP Jordan Wicks (3-4, 3.32) takes the mound for the I-Cubs.