Indianapolis rallies past RailRiders 8-6 after five errors

Indianapolis kept finding openings in a game that kept changing shape, and the Indians finally walked off with an 8-6 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday at Victory Field after the RailRiders committed a season-high five errors. Only three of Indianapolis’ eight runs were earned, but the home club made the most of every mistake in a back-and-forth contest that featured four lead changes and a long stretch of damage control from both bullpens.

The afternoon turned chaotic almost immediately when Khristian Curtis was struck by a line drive on the second batter he faced and had to leave after just one out in what was only his third career Triple-A appearance. Thomas Harrington also exited after taking a line drive one inning later, forcing Indianapolis to piece together the rest of the game on the fly. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre kept pushing in front, first with Garrett Martin driving in an early run and later with Martin’s three-run homer, his third straight game with a home run and his second consecutive four-RBI night.

Indianapolis answered with power of its own in the third, when Nick Cimillo launched a 456-foot, three-run homer to swing the game back the other way and give the Indians a 5-3 lead. The RailRiders answered again and briefly moved in front 6-5, but Keiner Delgado tied it with an RBI single in the sixth to set up the decisive sequence. Right after that, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre made its fifth error of the day, and two runners scored on the play to put Indianapolis ahead 8-6.

Beau Burrows steadied the game with 3.0 scoreless innings in relief, and Hunter Stratton finished it with a perfect ninth for the save. Rafael Montero took the loss for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after allowing three runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk. The RailRiders even had to use an outfielder on the infield after the defensive reshuffling. The teams were scheduled to meet again Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. ET, with the six-game set still hanging in the balance.