The Indianapolis Indians had a day off to separate their eight-game home stand. But it did nothing to awaken the Tribe’s offense as they opened the series against the Rochester Red Wings with a 7-0 loss.

Starter Casey Sadler barely made it out of the first inning, but the damage had been done. The Tribe went up to bat with a four run deficit. Jake Brigham, who was activated from the disabled list just prior to game time, came in to relieve Sadler of duty. The Red Wings tacked on two more runs in the third.

Throughout the first three frames, the Tribe’s offense was quiet. Like most of their games so far this month – or in fact since the All-Star break – they are unable to string the hits together to score a run. They got a runner, Robert Andino, to third in the bottom half of the third inning but did not cross the plate for a run.

The Red Wings added another run in the fifth, before Brigham had the first 1-2-3 inning of the game by an Indian’s pitcher in the top of the sixth. Chase d’Arnaud added a hit in the fifth, Jaff Decker added another in the sixth, but neither batter was driven in.

Vin Mazzaro entered the game in relief of Brigham in the seventh. Decker’s arm in left field has been put to the test multiple times this season and he has 12 outfield assists (OFA) to show for it. He added another, for OFA No. 13,  when James Beresford looked to extend a single into a double in the seventh inning.

The Indians have been struggling to keep the International League West Division standings close. All the teams – Indianapolis, the Toledo Mud Hens and the Louisville Bats – were within four games of the Columbus Clippers prior to the start of Thursday’s game. Following the four game series with Rochester, the Indians will be playing one of those three teams to close out the season.

Down 7-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Indians needed more runs than the select fans needed the rally caps they won for being extra loud for a 30 second period of time. The inning started off with a Matt Hague strikeout. Brent Morel struck out next and then Tony Sanchez lined out to end the inning and the game, solidifying the Red Wings’ 7-0 victory.

Indians’ Player of the Game:

Jaff Decker

Decker was responsible for one of the Indians’ three hits in the 7-0 shutout on Thursday night. He also was involved in one of the best defensive plays of the game as he threw out James Beresford for his 13th outfield assist of the season. He continues to display his arm from left field telling batters that they probably shouldn’t run on him and try to extend a single into a double.

Final Box Score:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Red Wings	4	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0		7	8	0
Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	2

Winning Pitcher: Sean Gilmartin (2-3, 3.57 ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Sadler (9-4, 3.06 ERA)

Author’s Note:
This content was originally published on the Indiana Sports Report website.