Urquidy shuts down Iowa as Indianapolis wins first-half finale 3-1

José Urquidy gave Indianapolis the kind of start contenders build around, and Davis Wendzel supplied the swing that made it stand up in a 3-1 win over Iowa at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Indians finished the first half with five shutout innings from Urquidy and a second-inning solo homer from Wendzel.

Wendzel’s homer, his 10th of the season, opened the scoring in the second inning. The Indians added runs in the fifth and seventh, with Enmanuel Valdez driving in the second run on an RBI double and later adding another RBI knock. The game lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes and included a 1 hour, 35 minute rain delay.

Urquidy was the central reason. He worked 5.0 shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out five, and moved to 5-3 with a 4.37 ERA. Jordan Wicks took the loss for Iowa and fell to 0-5. The Cubs managed only one hit in 13 chances with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Indianapolis finished with six hits, Iowa with seven, but the Indians got the bigger contact when it mattered.

Hunter Stratton made his season debut and threw 2.0 scoreless innings, and Thomas Harrington picked up his first career minor league save despite allowing Iowa’s lone run in the ninth. Attendance was 4,238, and Iowa won 11-7 on June 19, 11-8 on June 18 and 6-5 in a walk-off on June 17 before Indianapolis answered with a 7-4 win on June 20 and then closed with the 3-1 finish on June 21.