Big Third Inning Propels Bats, Beat Clippers 5-4
The Clippers took the lead in the third. Michael Brantley singled on a bunt to second base. With the next batter Trevor Crowe up, Brantley advanced on a steal. Then Jordan Brown doubled to right field, sending Brantley home. Andy Marte then brought in the second run of the inning with a single to right, scoring Brown.
The Bats struck back in the bottom half of the inning. Luis Bolivar was hit by pitcher Fausto Carmona to lead off the inning. Craig Tatum followed with a double to left advancing Bolivar to third. Drew Stubbs then singled to left scoring Bolivar and sending Tatum to third. After Stubbs stole second, Drew Sutton blasted one to left-center field for a ground rule double, scoring Tatum and Stubbs. Still with no outs, Chris Heisey advanced Sutton to third with a single to left field. The last run of inning came from a sacrifice fly from Adam Rosales, scoring Sutton and giving the Bats a 4-2 lead.
Chris Heisey added another run in the fifth with a 428-foot home run, his third of the season, which gave the Bats a 5-2 advantage.
Columbus added another run in the seventh. Josh Barfield singled to center. Damaso Espino doubled to left field sending Barfield to third. Barfield scored the final run on a Brantley sacrifice fly to left.
The Clippers earned their final run in the ninth. Michael Brantley reached base on a walk. With Jordan Brown batting Brantley then advanced to second with the Bats infield not holding him on. Brown then singled to shortstop and Brantley scored on a throwing error by Sutton, who was attempting to throw out Brown at first. However, Brantley attempted to advance to second on the wild throw and was thrown out at second base to end the game.
Matt Maloney (6-5, 2.39) picked up another win for the Bats. He went seven innings, gave up ten hits, three runs and struck out four.
Zach Stewart took the mound in the eighth and earned his first Triple-A save. He went two innings, gave up two hits, one run, walked two and struck out two.
Fausto Carmona (0-1, 4.50) took the loss for the Columbus, giving up eight hits, five runs, while walking two and striking out two in seven inning s of work.
The Bats will play game two of the series tomorrow at 6:15 p.m. The probable pitcher for the Bats is RHP Justin Lehr (11-3, 3.43) and LHP Zach Jackson (3-7, 5.40) will take the mound for the Clippers.