Columbus Takes Series With Extra-Innings Victory

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Cubs (34-42) dropped their fourth straight to the Columbus Clippers (45-32) by a final score of 10-6 in ten innings on Saturday night at Principal Park.

The game was close throughout, beginning with a scoreless first inning for each starting pitcher. Columbus got on the board first in the top of the second after Bo Naylor hit a leadoff double and eventually scored on an RBI single from Mitchell Tolman. Iowa had an answer in their own half of the inning, however, evening the score with a leadoff single from Jared Young and a sacrifice fly from Jackson Frazier.

After the second inning, Iowa starter Caleb Kilian was locked in. He had a one-two-three third, walked one but held the Clippers scoreless in the fourth, and then finished off his outing with a one-two-three fifth. Meanwhile, the I-Cubs took their first lead of the game in the third inning with a single and an RBI double from Major League rehabber Seiya Suzuki.

That’s where the score would stay until the sixth inning. With reliever Sean Newcomb in the game for the I-Cubs, the Clippers took two walks and hit three singles to plate three runs and retake the lead, 4-2. Iowa cut that lead in half just a half inning later, though, when Nelson Maldonado hit his fourth home run of the year for the I-Cubs, bringing the score to 4-3.

Columbus scored again on a walk and sacrifice fly in the eighth, briefly making it a 5-3 ballgame, but Iowa took advantage of a Columbus fielding error in the bottom of the inning to knot it up at five apiece.

After both bullpens completed a scoreless ninth inning, the game headed to extras. Columbus wasted no time in the tenth. Nolan Jones led off the inning with a strikeout, but the Clippers used two hit batters and two singles to score one and load the bases ahead of David Fry, who hit a grand slam to put Columbus up 10-5. Iowa added one more on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning, but that's all they could get across, and Columbus took the game and the series by a final score of 10-6.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Caleb Kilian’s five-inning start was his longest outing since June 4, when he pitched five innings against St. Louis.
• Levi Jordan extended his hitting streak to six games, which ties his season high, with a single in the first inning.
• Darius Hill collected his 13th multi-hit game of the year with a 2-for-4 night. He now ranks third on the team, behind Jared Young (17) and Dixon Machado (17).
• Erich Uelmen took the loss, bringing his record this year to 3-3. He is tied for the team lead in wins and tied for second in losses.

Iowa will finish off the series against Columbus tomorrow, with first pitch between the two teams set for 6:08. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.