COLUMBUS, OHIO - Jarrett Grube two-hit the Indians over seven innings and the Clippers used an eight-run seventh to pull away from Indianapolis in a 10-1 rout Thursday night at Huntington Park. With the sweep, Columbus leapfrogged the Indians in the IL West standings, leaving Indy in second for the first
COLUMBUS, OHIO - Jarrett Grube two-hit the Indians over seven innings and the Clippers used an eight-run seventh to pull away from Indianapolis in a 10-1 rout Thursday night at Huntington Park. With the sweep, Columbus leapfrogged the Indians in the IL West standings, leaving Indy in second for the first time since May 17.
Columbus (59-51) improved to 12-9 against Indianapolis (59-52) this season behind the right arm of Grube. The 35-year-old veteran didn't allow a hit until Jordan Luplow singled off the left-field wall with two outs in the fourth, but left fielder Daniel Robertson caught Luplow trying to stretch at second.
Grube (5-5) went on to face one over the minimum, with the only other blemish coming on a two-out single by Jacob Stallings in the sixth. Grube worked 1-2-3 innings in the first, second, third, fifth and seventh. He struck out three and walked none.
The Clippers cracked the scoring against Drew Hutchison in the fourth on a one-out solo shot by Ronnie Rodriguez in the fourth. They added another run in the fifth on a Tyler Naquin sacrifice fly.
The score remained 2-0 until Columbus piled on eight runs in the seventh against Brett McKinney. Singles by Nellie Rodríguez and Robertson and a walk to Yandy Díaz loaded the bases with no outs. Naquin then reached on a fielding error by third baseman Eric Wood, allowing two runs to score. Back-to-back doubles by Richie Shaffer and Abraham Almonte made it 7-0, and Nellie Rodriguez capped the outburst with a three-run dinger to left-center.
Erich Weiss worked a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to avoid the shutout.
Hutchison (6-7) allowed two runs on nine hits over six frames while suffering his second straight defeat.
Indianapolis' loss was its largest of 2017. The eight-run seventh on seven total hits by Columbus was Indy's largest run and hit total allowed in a single inning this season. They also yielded a season-high 17 base hits, eclipsing the previous high of 16 done on June 5 at Toledo and June 16 at Charlotte.
The Indians continue their six-game road trip with a three-game weekend series at Louisville. The Tribe will send right-hander Nick Kingham (5-6, 4.42) to the bump, opposite Bats southpaw Cody Reed (4-6, 3.78). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., and the broadcast can be heard on Fox Sports 97.5 and AM 1260.
