Clippers put on a slugfest, win 7th straight and move into 4th place in AAA Midwest
It was a slugfest for the Columbus Clippers (44-48) Friday night as they took their 7th straight victory in a row over to beat the Omaha Storm Chasers (49-43) 12-3. The Clippers had 18 hits, 12 RBI’s and 3 home runs in an exciting game. The Clippers had seven players with at least 2 hits and the team saw 46 at bats. That is also the 22nd win this season for the Clippers on the road.
With that win the Clippers move into 4th place and pull within 7.5 games of the 1st place Toledo Mud Hens in the AAA Midwest Division. The Storm Chasers have now fallen 2.5 games back and are in 3rd place in the AAA Midwest Division.
The Clippers started pitcher Cody Morris who allowed only one run through 4 innings. Kevin Herget (7-3) picked up the win having scoreless 5th and 6th innings. Omaha's relief pitcher, Brandon Barker, gave up all 8 runs the Clippers scored.
It seemed all the Clippers showed up to hit. The Clippers got on the board with 2 home runs in the 4th inning. 1 from from Ryan Lavarnway and 1 Oscar Gonzalez. The Clippers would really open the flood gates in the 5th as they scored 8 runs in the inning alone. Lavarnway then continued his hitting streak hitting a single and getting an RBI in the 5th inning. Alex Call and Oscar Gonzalez each hit home runs and had 3 hits. Trenton Brooks also got in on the action with 3 hits.
That was Ryan Lavarnway’s 13th homer of the season. Lavarnway still leads the Clippers in home runs on the season and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He also got his 39th RBI of the season. Lavarnway is batting .275 on the season and .350 OBP.
The Clippers have placed IF/OF Richie Palacios on the injured list. Palacios has been a great addition to the Clippers this season batting .296 with 6 home runs and 42 RBI’s. I asked Richie if he was concerned with his injury. Richie said “Nah, just a light strain I’ll be back soon.”.
The Clippers also promoted OF Will Benson from the Akron Rubberducks. Benson is batting .221 on the season with 14 home runs and 42 RBI’s. Hopefully he can bring some of that offensive production to the Clippers.
The Clippers will take on The Storm Chasers again tonight at 8:05 p.m EST at Werner Park. To watch the game LIVE visit www.milb.tv or to listen to the game go to www.milb.com/columbus.