For the second time in four games, the Columbus Clippers were walk-off winners in the 11th inning against the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, winning 4-3 on Sunday. Brian Buscher sealed the deal for Columbus, delivering a pinch-hit, RBI single to left in the bottom of the 11th to send the Clipper faithful home happy.
The Clippers completed a four-game sweep of Lehigh Valley at Huntington Park while winning seven of the eight meetings this season. The Ironpigs have yet to win a game at the Clippers new ballpark, and with Buscher's 25th RBI of the season, Lehigh Valley will have to wait until next year to break that streak.
For the fourth consecutive game, the Ironpigs struck first in the top of the first inning with one run, as Rich Thompson and Chris Duffy led the game off with doubles. Thompson later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Cody Ransom.
The Clippers, as they have done all series against Lehigh Valley, fought back to take the lead as they scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Jordan Brown walked then Chris Gimenez and Nick Weglarz followed with a single and a double, respectively. Each player scored in the inning. Weglarz continued his great series against Lehigh Valley going 1-for-2 with an RBI double and three walks. Weglarz has reached base safely in eight of his last nine at-bats, compiling four hits and four walks during that span.
The Clippers held their 3-1 lead until the sixth inning, when starting pitcher Yohan Pino gave up a two-run home run to Ransom, a shot that cleared the bleachers in left field. Andy Tracy scored on the home run as well after drawing a walk, his third of the game.
Pino pitched into the seventh inning but didn't finish, as he left a tie ball game after six-and-two-third innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out five. His opposition for Lehigh Valley was Joe Savery, who had a similar line as Pino's, going six innings, giving up three runs on six hits, but walked four in the no decision. Josh Judy earned his first win of the season going one inning of relief for Columbus.
The Clippers last five hitters in the lineup (Brown, Gimenez, Weglarz, Anderson Hernandez and Josh Rodriguez) had six of the team's seven hits before Buscher's game winner. Both teams went scoreless from the seventh until the 11th inning with good pitching and mistake-free defense, but Buscher capitalized on the lone mistake and the Clippers bumped their home winning streak to six games.
The Clippers are back in action tomorrow for a double header against the Louisville Bats. Game one will feature Justin Germano (0-1, 6.30 ERA) for Columbus and Chad Reineke (2-3, 2.81ERA) for Louisville. Game two will see Jeremy Sowers (1-1, 2.93 ERA) take the mound for the Clippers against Ben Jukich (1-3, 5.40 ERA) for the Bats.
B-Mets Recover Sunday, Beat Aeros 5-2
The Binghamton Mets defeated the Aeros 5-2 Sunday, just one night after the largest Akron comeback of the year at NYSEG Stadium. A pair of Nick Evans home runs powered the B-Mets offensive attack, and the Aeros could not muster enough firepower for a second late rally in as many nights. The win gave Binghamton (24-25) a 2-1 lead in the series over last-place Akron (20-30) with the finale coming Memorial Day Monday.
Lonnie Chisenhall helped the visitors got on the scoreboard first with a small ball approach in the top of the fourth inning. The Aeros designated hitter drew a one-out walk, the first base runner of the game against Binghamton starter Josh Stinson, and moved to second on a groundout. Right fielder Matt McBride then continued the frame while Beau Mill picked up the RBI with a single to right.
The Mets retaliated in the bottom of that fourth with Akron left-handed starter Eric Berger on the mound. The hot-hitting first baseman Evans singled to begin the rally, Eric Campbell advanced him to third with a double and second baseman Reese Havens drew a walk. After two straight outs, Berger then walked DH Jose Coronado to tie the ball game at 1-1. Evans then hit a first-pitch two-out homer in the fifth and Berger later escaped a bases loaded jam that inning with a force out.
Evans struck again with a two-run homer the seventh inning, and two batters later, Havens followed with a solo shot of his own to make it a 5-1 lead for Binghamton. Trailing by several runs entering the eighth yet again, the Aeros attempted to strike gold twice in the state of New York. Unfortunately, B-Mets reliever Roy Merritt was too dominant in the final two innings as his only blemish was a solo home run in the eighth to third baseman Jared Goedert.
Binghamton reliever Manuel Alvarez (1-0) earned the win after coming in for relief of pitch-count limited Stinson in the fifth. Berger (1-4) took his second straight loss in allowing the first two runs on seven hits in his five innings for Akron. Reliever Bryan Price also struggled after a solid sixth by breaking his nine-inning scoreless streak by permitting the monster Binghamton three-run burst.
The Aeros finished with five hits Sunday night after smashing six extra-base hits the night before. Goedert’s late inning homer extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 consecutive games, tied for sixth-longest in Akron Aeros franchise history. Over the course of this monster stretch, the new Akron cleanup hitter is batting .368 (25-68) with 10 doubles, 13 runs scored and eight RBI.
The Aeros will look to leave New York with a series split with Monday’s first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at NYSEG Stadium. Lefty Kelvin De La Cruz (1-3, 4.58 ERA) will look to rebound from a rough past few outings against Mets southpaw Eric Niesen (0-2, 3.12 ERA).
Kinston Takes Series from Winston-Salem
Jason Kipnis hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning, breaking a tie and propelling Kinston to a 5-2 victory over Winston-Salem Sunday afternoon at Historic Grainger Stadium. With the win, Kinston took the series from Winston-Salem. The Dash (33-17) entered the series with the best record in all of baseball. The K-Tribe has now won seven straight series.
The Dash drew first blood, as Brandon Short delivered a two RBI single off of Kinston starting pitcher Joe Gardner in the top of the second inning. After a choppy start, Gardner would settle down as he gave up just those two earned runs in six innings. Gardner (3-0) picked up the win, walking one and striking out five. Gardner’s ERA is now 1.95 through five starts for Kinston.
The K-Tribe would get the bats going in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a two-out single by Jordan Henry. Lucas Montero and Jason Kipnis each followed with four pitch walks courtesy of Dash starter Terry Doyle. Abner Abreu made Doyle pay with a bases loaded single, driving home Henry and Montero. With the score tied at two, Kinston would get to Doyle again in the fifth inning, starting with a leadoff single from Adam Davis. Henry followed with another single and Montero put down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Kipnis then cashed in, delivering a two RBI double to give Kinston a 4-2 lead. Kinston would add another run in the eighth inning, when Doug Pickens singled home Kipnis. Kipnis and Abreu each had two RBI, Henry went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Henry is currently second in the Carolina League in batting average (.355) and first in on-base percentage.
The Indians bullpen would hold from there as David Roberts gave up just one hit through two innings. Cory Burns delivered his second save of the series and fourth save of the season in the ninth inning.
The K-Tribe (27-23) is now six games behind first place Winston-Salem with twenty games to go in the first half of the season. The homestand continues for Kinston with a special 6pm Memorial Day start. Military is in absolutely free and there will be fireworks after the game. Monday is also buck night at Historic Grainger Stadium with $1 beers, sodas, hot dogs and fries! Game time 6pm, Carolina League ERA leader T.J. McFarland (5-1, 1.91) will be on the hill as Kinston hosts Wilmington.
Loons Blank Captains 6-0
Great Lakes shut down Lake County 4-0. The Loons win cut the Captains lead to two games in the Eastern Division.
Jerry Sands drove in the first run of the game in the first inning with a single to score Brian Cazavos-Galvez.
In the second, Brian Ruggiano singled to lead things off. Jaime Ortez would hit one to deep right field for a two-run homerun giving the Loons a 3-0 lead over Lake County.
The Loons added three more in the sixth inning; Gorman Erickson had an RBI single. Then Brian Cavazos-Galvez with two outs drove in a pair with a base hit to make it 6-0.
Allen Webster (6-3) picked up the win for Great Lakes throwing seven scoreless innings allowing just four hits and striking out four. The Captains lost for the first time in eleven games with Trey Haley (4-1) starting. Haley threw five innings allowed three runs on five hits, walked five and struck out three.
Lake County and Great Lakes will meet for the final time in the first half of the season on Monday afternoon on Memorial Day at 3:05PM. The Captains will start RHP Clayton Cook (1-4) against RHP Matt Magill (1-0) for the Loons.
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