Four Homers in Five Innings Clinches Series for Columbus

The Columbus Clippers woke their bats up tonight, taking the final game of their four-game set against the Louisville Bats, to win the series three game to one.
The Clippers mashed four homeruns in the first five innings to knock off the Bats, 8-1.

They hopped on the board in the first inning courtesy of Brandon Barnes, who drilled a two-run shot off Bats starter Justin Nicolino.
Ahead 2-0, Columbus added three more in the third. Barnes made it 3-0 with a RBI single, and Francisco Mejía followed with a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-0.
Meanwhile, Ryan Merritt tossed three scoreless innings in a rehab assignment from Cleveland. He scattered four hits, while striking out one.
In the top of the fourth, Nellie Rodríguez pounded a no-doubt, solo homerun, his sixth of the year, to add on at 6-0.
The Bats scored for the first time in the home half of the fourth when Gabriel Guerrero grounded out to short, scoring a run to make it 6-1.
The homerun parade continued in the fifth for the Clippers, with Francisco Mejia starting things off with a solo jack. Mike Papi soon followed with a solo shot of his own, extending the Columbus lead to 8-1.
With one out in the seventh, Mason Williams tripled on a ball that got lost in the lights to set up a Chadwick Tromp sacrifice fly to pull within 8-2 for Louisville.
That would be it for the Bats, as Ben Taylor, the fifth Columbus reliever used in the ballgame, closed things out in the bottom of the ninth to secure the 8-2 win and the series victory.
The Clippers will welcome in the Indianapolis Indians for a three-game series tomorrow night at Huntington Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.