Five Drives: SWB loses 9-4 Wednesday

MOOSIC, PA (July 16, 2019) - The powerful bats of the Columbus Clippers used a decisive sixth inning, plating five runs- including a go-ahead grand slam by Yu Chang- to take a 9-4 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Wednesday afternoon at PNC Field.

It was a sparkling afternoon with winds blowing out to centerfield, and the batters took full advantage. The Clippers entered the day leading the International League in home runs and clubbed five more to add to their league-best total. The blasts included solo shots in the second and fourth innings from Ryan Flaherty and Brandon Barnes, but the RailRiders held a 4-2 lead entering the top of the sixth inning.
 
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre held the lead until the top of the sixth inning, with the first three men reaching to load the bases before a strikeout of Bobby Bradley, who was added back to the roster from Cleveland earlier Wednesday morning. Following that, Chang battled Delgado to a full count and, on the ninth pitch he saw, hit a grand slam for Columbus. It was the second grand slam the RailRiders have given up this year, turning a two-run deficit into a two-run lead, 6-4. Flaherty homered for the second time in the game, a back-to-back shot with Chang, plating another run for the Clippers 7-4. 

The game began with teams trading runs early. After a scoreless first inning, both teams got on the board in the second. Columbus opened the offense with the first homer of the day by Flaherty, a majestic fly ball over the 408-foot mark in centerfield. The RailRiders answered in the bottom half of the inning when Zack Zehner cracked a two-run single up the middle, scoring Mike Ford and Ryan McBroom for a 2-1 lead.
 
Clint Frazier leadoff the third with a solo home run to center, his second homer for the RailRiders- and first since June 20- increasing the advantage to 3-1. 
 
In the top of the fourth, Clippers centerfielder Brandon Barnes homered, cutting the deficit by one to 3-2, but then Zehner responded with his second run-scoring hit of the day to re-extend the lead back to a pair of runs at 4-2.
The RailRiders got a strong start from Randall Delgado (2-5) over the first five frames before the Clippers plated five runs in the top of the sixth. Delgado finished with six runs (six earned runs) on six hits (three home runs) over 5.1 innings pitched while striking out seven batters in the loss. Michael Peoples (7-3) earned the win after allowing four runs on nine hits over six innings. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre only had one base runner after the sixth inning. 

The RailRiders have taken the first two-of-three from the Clippers and the two teams conclude the series Thursday evening with a scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch. RHP Chance Adams (4-2, 3.88) gets the ball for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (6-5, 4.87) for Columbus.