After 3 straight losses the Columbus Clippers hold on to win 3-2 against the Memphis Redbirds Wednesday night. With this win the Clippers now move into 4th place in the AAA Midwest Division and are 9.5 games back. The Toledo Mud Hens remain in 1st place in the AAA Midwest Division, 2 games ahead of the 2nd place Omaha Storm Chasers.
With the pitching disaster that was the 1st inning in the Clippers previous matchup with the Redbirds, the Clippers pitchers came out ready to put batters away on Wednesday striking out 12 batters. Kirk McCarty looked good in his start for the Clippers as he allowed only 1 run on 2 hits with 6 strikeouts in his 5 innings. McCarty threw 90 pitches, 58 were strikes.
Kyle Nelson also struck out 3 of the 8 batters he faced and didn't give up any runs. Memphis scored once in the eighth, but Anthony Gose pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to close it out. None of the Clippers pitchers gave up a home run, which helped keep the Clippers in the game. Giving up home runs has killed the Clippers this season, so it is great to see them not give up any homers and stopping the 3 game losing streak.
Columbus took an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd when Trenton Brooks doubled home Connor Marabell. The Redbirds tied it up in the 5th inning but the Clippers would answer right back in the 6th. Trenton Brooks hit his second double of the night putting himself in great scoring position for the next batter, team RBI leader Nolan Jones. Jones stepped up to the plate and crushed a 2 run homer to right center field to give the Clippers a 3-1 lead.
That was Jones' 12th home run and 46th RBI of the year. Jones leads the Clippers in RBI's and has the 2nd most home runs, 1 behind Ryan Lavarnway. Oscar Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games adding 2 hits for the Clippers. Gonzalez is batting .307 for the season. Connor Marabell has also been hitting really well for the Clippers, going 2 for 3 for the 3rd his consecutive game.
The Clippers will play The Memphis Redbirds again Thursday at 8:10 p.m EST. To watch the game LIVE visit www.milb.tv or to listen to the game go to www.milb.com/columbus. The next home game for the Clippers is Tuesday, Aug. 31 vs. St. Paul, 6:15 p.m at Huntington Park.