Four-Run Eighth Gives Columbus Series Lead

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Cubs (19-17) dropped game one of the series to the Columbus Clippers (25-12) by a score of 9-3, Tuesday at Principal Park.

Both pitchers kept the opposing offense off the board until the fourth, when Bryan Lavastida hit a solo home run to put Columbus on the board. They followed the home run with back-to-back doubles, extending their lead to 2-0.

The Clippers got an RBI single in fifth to go up 3-0 before Iowa scored one in the fifth on an RBI single from Carlos Sepulveda, good for the first Triple-A hit of his career. Robel Garcia doubled home another run in the sixth, pulling Iowa within a run heading into the seventh.

From there, Columbus took over, scoring in each of the final three frames. They got one run in the seventh, four in the eighth and one in the ninth to break open the game 9-2. In the eighth, they walked five times including three with the bases loaded.

Iowa got a run back in the ninth on an RBI double from Trent Giambrone, but the scoring would stop there as the Clippers took game one of the series by a score of 9-3.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Robel Garcia went 3-for-4 with a run scored, a double and a run batted in tonight. He collected three of Iowa’s nine hits in the game.

• All four of Iowa’s pitchers surrendered a run tonight, with Matt Dermody and Cayne Ueckert allowing seven of the nine runs Columbus scored.

• Nelson Velazquez raised his average to .273 with Iowa, going 2-for-4 tonight.

Iowa and Columbus are set to play game two of the six-game series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 12:08 pm at Principal Park. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.