O-H-I-NO: Struggles Continue in Buckeye State

COLUMBUS, OH - A Rochester rally in the ninth inning fell short and the Columbus Clippers beat the Red Wings 5-4 Sunday night at Huntington Park and swept the three-game weekend series.

The Red Wings (53-49) have now lost eight straight games in Columbus and 12 straight games in the Buckeye State since 2013. Rochester will head to Toledo for a three-game set beginning Monday.

The Clippers (57-45) struck for two runs in the third inning against Wings starter Tyler Duffey (4-6) to take a 2-0 lead. Reynaldo Rodriguez cut the Rochester deficit in half with a solo home run in the fifth against Columbus starter Toru Murata (9-4).

Two unearned runs in the bottom half of the fifth extended the Clippers advantage to 4-1 but the Red Wings responded with two runs of their own the next half inning to once again pull within a run. Newcomer Xavier Avery scored on a wild pitch and Danny Ortiz drove in Oswaldo Arcia and the Wings trailed 4-3.

Duffey allowed a run in the seventh and departed with two outs in the inning. He finished by allowing five runs - three earned - on eight hits without issuing a walk while striking out three. Twelve of his outs came on the ground.

Rochester mounted a rally in the ninth as Avery drove in a run to bring the Red Wings within a run at 5-4 with two outs but James Beresford struck out with the tying run on third base against Carlos Marmol.

Avery, Beresford, Ortiz and Jorge Polanco each had two hits in the loss.

Next up: LHP Pat Dean starts for the Red Wings when they open a three-game series Monday night in Toledo.

Next Home Game: Friday, July 31 vs. Syracuse (Nationals) at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets: Order tickets online, anytime at RedWingsBaseball.com/Tickets or call 423-WING (9464) to charge by phone, Mon-Fri. 9 am-5 pm