In a doubleheader Saturday, and a final showdown on Sunday afternoon at Huntington Park, the Columbus Clippers (40-48) win 3 games back-to-back-to back & split the 6 games series with the Toledo Mud Hens (49-40). This bumps the Mud Hens out of 1st place in the AAA Midwest Division.
The Columbus Clippers only allowed a combined 6 hits over both games, and broke a 3 game losing streak on Saturday. The Clippers beat the Toledo Mud Hens 4-2 in the first game and 4-1 in the second game. Cody Morris started for the Clippers in game 1 and pitched his 2nd consecutive, 4 inning shutout to start.
In game 1 Ryan Lavarnway hit his 9th home run of the season opening up the scoring for the Clippers. In the 6th Nolan Jones was walked as the lead off batter. Oscar Gonzalez was up next and hit a single up the middle which put 2 runners on, one on first and one on second with no outs. Trenton Brooks then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both men into position to score. Tyler Krieger hit a 2 out, 2 run double to left field to put the Clippers up 3-1. Richie Palacios took his at bat and smacked a double into right field scoring Krieger making it 4-1 Clippers. Toledo would hit one more homer in the 7th but that would be all she wrote for the Mud Hens. The Clippers took the first game 4-2.
In the 2nd game, Heath Fillmyer (2-5) was the starting pitcher and struck out 8 batters over 6 innings. Gabriel Arias was able to extend his on base streak. He now has 22 games in a row with a single in the 1st inning. Richie Palacios and Trenton Brooks both hit RBI's in the 2nd inning putting the Clippers up 2-0.
In the 4th inning of game 2 Oscar Gonzalez hit a solo home run to lead off for the Clippers. 5 batters later Alex Call hit an RBI to make it 4-0 Clippers. That was the last the Clippers would score for the day. In the 6th inning the Mud Hens Kody Clemens hit a solo home run, but it was too little too late. The Clippers held onto a 4-1 win over the Mud Hens in 7 innings.
On Sunday, game 3, the Clippers took their 3rd straight win over the Mud Hens. The Clippers starting pitcher Brad Peacock only allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings of pitching. Relief pitcher Robert Broom (2-1) got the win with a 1 shutout inning of relief. The Clippers 6th pitcher, Jordan Stephens, got the save with a hitless 9th inning.
The 4th inning the Clippers would score 4 runs on 2 homers. With 1 out Ryan Lavarnway smacked his 10th homer of the year over the right field wall making it 4-2. Nolan Jones and Richie Palacios were both walked when Alex Call steps up to the plate and crushed a 2 out, 3 run homer over the right field wall making it 5-4 Clippers.
The Clippers would extend their lead with 3 more runs in the bottom of the 6th. With 2 on and 1 out the Mud Hens intentionally walk Trenton Brooks loading the bases. Gabriel Arias steps up for his at bat and hits a ground ball to 3rd scoring Richie Palacios and extending the Clippers lead to 6-4. Daniel Johnson then hit a 2 run single into center field to score Alex Call and Trenton Brooks, giving the Clippers their last score of the day finishing 8-4 and taking the win.
Even with the wins, the Clippers are still struggling at giving up home runs. With 6 homes runs given over the last 3 games of the series, the Clipper have now given up 139 home runs this season. This is also the 4th consecutive series that the Clippers have split by winning the last game. They did this with Nashville, Iowa and Omaha. The Clippers record is now 40-48, they are 9 games back and are in 5th place in the AAA East-Midwest division.
The Clippers will start their next 6 game series this week against Omaha Storm Chasers, who are 1st place in the Division. They will play Tuesday 8/17 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.
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