Herd bats shut down by Clippers, 8-0
The Bisons bats do not get shut out often.
Friday night, Buffalo's high-powered offense was quiet, very quiet.
Buffalo almost succumbed to a no-hitter for the first time since Bronson Arroyo did it against the Bisons in 2003.
But, Herd right fielder Anthony Gose broke up the almost-historic night for Columbus with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning with a single to right field.
Columbus used an organization of pitchers to do the job and came within one strike of the 78th no-hitter in International League history and the seventh in Columbus history.
Current Bison pitcher Justin Germano was the last Clippers pitcher to throw a no-hitter when he threw a perfect game for Columbus against Syracuse on June 26, 2010.
Bisons starting pitcher J.A. Happ allowed a double to Ezequiel Carrera to start the game, but then retired the next six batters, striking out four of them.
Columbus scored first in the third inning thanks to a double to right field by Roberto Perez. Luis Hernandez then singled up the middle to score Perez and give the Clippers a one run lead.
Clippers right fielder Matt Carson gave Columbus a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a single to right field that scored Ryan Rohlinger. Happ walked Rohlinger to start the inning.
Happ finished the evening allowing six hits and three earned runs and six strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. Walks were his biggest problem that ended forced him to reach his pitch limit early with three in his final two innings.
Hernandez hit his second single of the game off of Happ to begin the fifth inning. A wild pitch by Happ advanced pinch runner Nate Spears to second and a groundout sent him to third. Center fielder Tim Fedroff drove in Spears with a single to right field to increase the Clippers lead to 3-0 against Happ.
The Bisons ran into an impressive pitching performance by Columbus starter Danny Salazar and the Columbus bullpen. Salazar struck out eight Herd batters in five innings without giving up a hit.
Salazar was taken out after the fifth per team rules, but got his fourth win on the year. The rest of the Clippers relievers combined for five strikeouts.
Buffalo's only base runner came in the fourth inning with two outs when third baseman Jim Negrych, playing in his first game since coming off the disabled list, reached on a fielding error by the Clippers first baseman.
Herd reliever Buddy Carlyle came in for Happ and allowed just one hit in one inning, while striking out one batter.
Left-hander Tommy Hottovy relieved Carlyle with two outs and a man on second in the sixth. Hottovy gave up just his second hit to a left-handed batter all season on a two-RBI single by Fedroff, which gave Columbus a 5-0 lead.
Hottovy hit Spears in the ankle in his first at-bat and Carrera reached on a fielding error by second baseman Munenori Kawasaki before Fedroff's single.
The lefty was taken out with no outs in the seventh and finished with one walk and one unearned run in 0.1 innings.
Joel Correno lasted 1.1 innings and allowed a double and three walks in the bottom of the eighth that increased the Clippers lead to 6-0. Correno was taken out with the bases loaded and one out and replaced by right-hander Bobby Korecky.
Korecky allowed two-straight singles to Chin-Hsiu Chen and Jeremy Hermida as the game opened up and Columbus led 8-0 after six pitches from the right-hander.
The Bisons split the road trip with a 4-4 record and return home Saturday for a four-game showdown with Pawtucket in a battle for the first place wild card spot.
Bisons Notes: Tonight's game was the last game at Huntington Park…Despite the loss tonight, it is the fourth season series win over the Clippers in the last five years… Neither starting pitcher in the game allowed a walk until the fourth inning…56 of J.A. Happ's 95 pitches were thrown for strikes…The Herd used five pitchers against the Clippers in the game…Buffalo's closer Neil Wagner was recalled by the Blue Jays earlier today…Wagner pitched in four games since returning from Toronto on July 22.