Janish razzed about cycle that wasn't

Paul Janish ripped several base hits Sunday, then got ripped by his teammates.

Janish came within an official scorer's decision of hitting for the cycle, smacked a grand slam and collected a career-high six RBIs as the Louisville Bats coasted past the Columbus Clippers, 13-4, at Louisville Slugger Field.

The 25-year-old shortstop was batting .257 but went 4-for-4 and scored a season-high four times. It was his fifth four-hit game since the beginning of the 2007 season.

"It's just one of those games," Janish said. "We played 13 innings last night and didn't have to take batting practice today. Sometimes when you're not given a chance to think ahead of time and just show up and play, the pressure goes away. I think that was the case today."

Janish singled and scored in the first inning, lifted a sacrifice fly in the second and doubled and scored in the fourth and seventh. It was his two-bagger in the fourth that was topic for conversation among the Bats (15-9).

With Chris Dickerson on first, Janish stroked a liner to left field and cruised into second without a throw. Dickerson scored and Janish raced to third base while left fielder Jason Dubois threw home. He was given a double by the official scorer, who ruled he took third on Dubois's throw to the plate.

"Jay Bruce was joking with me about that," Janish said with a laugh. "He was razzing me about the triple that wasn't, especially after I got another double. A lot of the guys were having fun with that. It was a fair call though because I slowed up to read the throw home. I should have run faster."

Janish doubled again in the sixth and scored on Bruce's fifth homer. An inning earlier, the Rice University product sent his second career grand slam over the right-field wall.

"My first two at-bats, I fell behind," Janish said. "When you get a hit behind in the count, it gives you confidence for at-bats later in the game. I started to work ahead in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. The grand slam swing was a 1-0 pitch and [Clippers reliever Arnie] Munoz had walked a few guys, including our pitcher. I was sitting on a fastball and knew I got it."

Janish raised his average to .297. After a sluggish start, he has 13 runs scored and 13 RBIs to complement his three home runs.

"It's always good to get a win after a tough loss," he said. "We've been playing good baseball and staying near the top of our division. Our pitchers threw a lot last night, so it was good to back them with some offense today."

Dickerson went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and three runs scored, while Bruce, MiLB.com's No. 1 prospect, homered and drove in three runs as the Bats stayed a half-game behind first place Toledo in the Western Division.

Matt Maloney (2-1) struck out a season-best nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk for the win.

Yurendell de Caster and Major League veteran Ryan Langerhans each collected three hits for the Clippers (10-14), who stranded 10 runners and had two more picked off by Maloney.

Columbus starter Collin Balester (1-2) was charged with five runs on seven hits and two walks in three innings.