INDIANAPOLIS — They say every time you watch a baseball game, there's a chance you'll see something you've never seen before.
The Indianapolis Indians proved that saying true Thursday night.
Tied at five with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jared Oliva stole home - and stole a win over rival Columbus.
Indianapolis had taken a 5-3 lead at Victory Field when Oneil Cruz homered to center field in the seventh inning. But Columbus scored single runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to tie the score and set up Oliva's heroics.
(NOTE: The video in the player above is from a previous story on "Eli the Bat Dog" at Victory Field.)
The Indians centerfielder doubled with one out in the ninth, then moved to third on a groundout by Cruz. With two outs, designated hitter Canaan Smith-Njigba took a pitch to push the count full at 3-2.
Clippers catcher Bryan Lavastida glanced at Oliva, who took a lead down the third-base line, then flipped the ball high back to pitcher Ben Krauth. Oliva sprinted toward home and dove across the plate just ahead of Lavastida's tag, igniting a raucous celebration around home plate as Oliva's teammates stormed the field.
The stolen base was Oliva's second of the night and the 100th of his minor league career.
The win pushed Indianapolis' record to 28-27 on the season, with three more games against Columbus coming up this weekend at Victory Field. First pitch for Friday and Saturday's games is at 7:05 p.m., with Sunday's game starting at 1:35 p.m. Fireworks follow Friday's game and Saturday is "Negro Leagues Night," as the team pays tribute to the history of the Negro Leagues in Indianapolis.