Clippers Supercharge Bats for Series Clinching Win Against Mud Hens
Huntington Park turned into a makeshift tennis court on Wednesday night, as Columbus (47-40) and Toledo (37-49) went back and forth on the scoreboard before the Clippers ultimately pulled away in the seventh inning for an 8-4 win in the rubber match of their series in front of a congregation of 9,460.
Shortstop Erik Gonzalez led off the Clippers half of the first inning with a solo home run off of the scoreboard in right center field, his sixth long ball of the year.
In the third, a Ronny Rodriguez RBI double and a throwing error on Toledo shortstop Dixon Machado allowed Columbus to extend their lead to 3-0.
However, just as they did in their 10-0 win last night over the Clippers, the Mud Hens had a big fourth inning, this time represented by four runs to take a 4-3 lead.
Four straight hits in that fourth frame, a Jacoby Jones triple, a John Hicks single, a Chad Huffman double and a Jeff McVaney infield single made it a 3-2 game, followed by Tyler Collins' RBI sacrifice fly to center, tying things up.
The Clippers wasted no time in taking their lead back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three times highlighted by Bryson Myles' two-run double to make it 6-4, ultimately giving Columbus the win.
The inning saw the end of Mud Hens starter in southpaw Chad Bell (4-3), who allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits while walking two batters and striking out two.
Columbus starter, Ryan Merritt (5-7), worked five innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits. He walked one and sent four away on strikes.
The Clippers hit the road for a few days before they are back at Huntington Park on Saturday for their day/night doubleheader against division rival Indianapolis. Columbus heads to Slugger Field to take on Louisville for a quick two game set beginning tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. Southpaw Shawn Morimando is set to make his first start as a Clipper after spending almost the entirety of this season in class-AA Akron.