Moroff, Wood Belt Tribe Past Columbus

COLUMBUS, OHIO -Max Moroff belted his league-leading 11^th and 12^th home runs of the season, and Eric Wood added the second multi-homer game of his career as the Indianapolis Indians doubled up the Columbus Clippers, 8-4, on Wednesday night at Huntington Park. Nick Kingham pitched into the sixth inning to earn the win in his return to Triple-A.

The Indians (19-18) jumped on Columbus right-hander Adam Plutko early, thanks to a two-out bomb by Moroff to deep right-center. Up 1-0, Indy pushed its lead to three in the second on a walk, single and error that preceded a run-scoring single by Joey Terdoslavich.
The Clippers (17-22) cut into the deficit in the fourth, scoring twice against Kingham. A two-out RBI double off the bat of Eric Stamets made it 3-1, and he then hustled home on a soft single by Jeremy Lucas into shallow left field.
The score remained 3-2 until the sixth, when Wood launched a leadoff homer off Plutko. Indy's advantage grew to four in the seventh on Moroff's second blast of the game.
The Tribe tacked on insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, the final run coming on another inning-opening tater by Wood. Columbus' Ronny Rodriguez drilled a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to cap the scoring.
Moroff's multi-homer effort was the second of his career, both coming this season. In each of his two-homer efforts, he hit long balls from both sides of the plate. He has hit six dingers apiece from the right and left side of the dish this year.
Kingham (1-0) hurled 5.2 innings of two-run ball, scattering six hits and three walks with four strikeouts. The outing was his first at the Triple-A level since May 6, 2015. Plutko (1-6) was charged with four runs over six innings in the loss.
Indianapolis, who sat eight games under .500 as recently as May 3, climbed above the threshold for the first time since April 8 when they were 2-1 three games into the season. Indy's offense continued its torrid stretch in May, a month in which it has averaged 5.3 runs per game after averaging 3.7 runs per contest over 22 games in April.
Indy and Columbus wrap up their five-game set with the finale Thursday morning at Huntington Park. The Indians will send right-hander Drew Hutchison (2-1, 3.86) to the mound, and Columbus will summon southpaw Shawn Morimando (2-4, 5.97) to the bump. First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 a.m., and the broadcast can be heard on Fox Sports 97.5 or AM 1260.