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Alldred Fans Six, Indians Belt Three Homers to Clip Columbus

Mitchell, Shackelford and Smith-Njigba go yard in 7-3 triumph
Cam Alldred made his third spot start of the season for Indianapolis and tied his career high in both innings (4.0) and strikeouts (six) in a no-decision. (Photo by Adam Pintar)
May 26, 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aaron Shackelford hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the fourth inning – the second of three long balls hit by Indianapolis – to drive the Indians to a 7-3 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Friday night at Huntington Park. The blast was Shackelford’s team-leading seventh

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aaron Shackelford hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the fourth inning – the second of three long balls hit by Indianapolis – to drive the Indians to a 7-3 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Friday night at Huntington Park. The blast was Shackelford’s team-leading seventh of the season and third in the last two days.

Shackelford’s shot to right put the Indians (23-25) in front for good after Indy’s Cal Mitchell and Columbus’ Chris Roller traded solo home runs in the first and third innings, respectively. Columbus (24-24) inched closer in the fifth on a throwing error by Shackelford across the diamond from first to third, but Indianapolis scored three runs in its next trip to the plate, highlighted by a Jared Triolo run-scoring double and Mark Mathias RBI single.

Oscar Gonzales cut the Clippers’ deficit to 6-3 with a solo blast off J.C. Flowers in the home half of the sixth, but Canaan Smith-Njigba smacked his third homer of the series and fifth of the season before the stretch. Chase De Jong, Ryan Borucki (W, 2-0) and Carmen Mlodzinski each tossed scoreless innings to finish off Indy’s 16th road win.

Cam Alldred made his third spot start of the season and fired a career-high tying 4.0 innings while also matching his career high in strikeouts with six, first reached this season on April 13 vs. St. Paul. He allowed one earned run on two hits and one walk. Zach Plesac (L, 1-2) was tagged for six earned runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings.

Mitchell drew three walks to go with his fifth home run of the season. Mathias also reached base safely four times, going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and walk. Triolo continued his torrid series with a 2-for-4 performance that included a double, two runs and stolen base. He has reached base safely in 12 of his 19 plate appearances in the series at Columbus.

The Indians and Clippers meet again on Saturday at Huntington Park at 7:05 PM ET. The pitching matchup features two MLB Pipeline top 100 prospects squaring off against each other – RHP Quinn Priester (5-3, 4.12) for Indianapolis, rated as the No. 65 overall prospect, and RHP Gavin Williams (2-1, 2.10) for Columbus, who is Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect and No. 17 overall in the minor leagues.