Game Recap 6/30: Brown Helps Clippers Win

Brown drives in four, Clippers win, 7-3

In a game that resembled last night's contest, the Columbus Clippers defeated the Indianapolis Indians, 7-3 on Wednesday night at Huntington Park in front of 9,552 fans. The Clippers scored five runs in the fourth inning last night, and followed suit tonight with five more in the victory.

The Clippers trailed going into the fourth, 2-1 as Alex Presley gave Indianapolis an early lead with a two-run home run in the first inning. Presley would homer again in the seventh for the Indians, but they couldn't overcome the Clippers fourth inning outburst.

The Clippers would cut the lead in half in the third as Jordan Brown drove in Michael Brantley with a sacrifice fly to right field.

In the fourth, Brown delivered again, clearing the bases with a three-run double to center field over the head of Presley. Luis Valbuena and Brantley also drove in runs in the inning, as Brantley continued his great home stand with three hits and two runs scored, as he raised his average to .316.

To prove how similar the two games against Indy were, the Clippers scored seven runs in both games, allowed three runs in both games, and also tallied 11 hits in each game. In the two-game series, Brown drove in six runs on five hits and Brantley had four hits while driving in two runs and scoring two runs as well.

Carlos Carrasco took the win for Columbus, pitching five innings giving up two earned runs on five hits. He did struggle with his command at times on the night, walking five but he struck out six.

Aeros Defeat Squirrels 8-6 in Nail-Biter

The Aeros managed to hold on for an 8-6 victory Wednesday night in Richmond, defeating the Flying Squirrels with early offense and clutch pitching at the very end. Akron jumped out to a large lead in the contest after scoring seven runs during the fourth and fifth innings to earn the three-game series victory in front of 5,133 fans at The Diamond. The win also moved the Aeros (38-40) back into third place in the Eastern League’s Western Division while Richmond fell to fifth place with a 37-42 record.

It was a quiet start to the game in the intriguing pitching matchup between Akron’s Alex White and David Mixon of the Flying Squirrels. Richmond struck first against White in the third inning as leadoff center fielder Darren Ford plated Ryan Lormand with a groundout.

Akron responded swiftly in the fourth as Jordan Henry, Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall all singled to start a rally. Designated hitter Beau Mills later scored Kipnis with a groundout and right fielder John Drennen singled home Chisenhall. Tim Fedroff then followed a Mixon with a clutch two-out RBI single, making it a 4-1 lead for the visitors.

Mixon left the game in the fifth inning as the Aeros extended the advantage to 7-1. Chisenhall plated Henry with a sacrifice fly while first baseman Matt McBride delivered his second homer in as many nights, scoring Kipnis as well. Akron finally ended their scoring for the evening in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring base hit by Kipnis.

Richmond retaliated to score twice in the bottom half of the seventh, both unearned, before threatening again in the eighth. Left fielder Thomas Neal smacked a leadoff double while Clay Timpner and Ryan Lormand each provided RBI singles. Another run scored on a Kipnis fielding error, cutting the once seven-run lead down to only two at 8-6.

Squirrels reliever Andy Sisco stranded the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, giving the hosts a renewed sense of fight for one final rally. Brandon Crawford walked and Neal singled to start the bottom half of the frame, but reliever Omar Aguilar battled back to force three straight outs to end the comeback attempt and seal the victory.

White (3-4) snapped a personal three-game losing streak in earning the win, only allowing one earned run (three runs total) in 6.1 innings pitched. He now has a 2.27 ERA in 16 combined starts between Akron and Class A Kinston on the season while Mixon (8-4) struggled in taking the loss and Aguilar recorded his fourth save of the year.

Five different Aeros batters finished with multi-hit performances overall as the visitors collected 13 hits (12 singles) in the back-and-forth shootout. Drennen extended his hitting streak to nine games and Kipnis was the only player on the winning team with three hits. Meanwhile, Henry starred as he finished with exactly two hits for the third straight night in Richmond and became the first Akron player this year to steal two bases in one game.

Bellows Homer One of Two Hits for K-Tribe

Myrtle Beach pitching limited Kinston to just two hits, as the Pelicans got by the K-Tribe 2-1 Wednesday night in South Carolina.

In a game of few offensive opportunities, great Pelican defense kept Kinston off the scoreboard in the first inning. After a two-out error allowed Abner Abreu to reach, Kyle Bellows walked to continue the inning. With Abreu at second base Karexon Sanchez rolled a single into shallow right field; Pelicans right fielder Cory Harrilchak came up throwing and nailed Abreu at the plate to end the inning. The K-Tribe would return the favor in the bottom of the second inning, when Indians center fielder Lucas Montero threw out the Pelicans Samuel Sime at home to end the frame.

The K-Tribe bats would disappear after the first inning, as Myrtle Beach starter Paul Clemens baffled Indian hitters. Graham would go on to retire the final 12 batters he faced. Clemens struck out five and walked just one batter through five innings.

The Pelicans would break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, finally getting to Kinston starter Joey Mahalic. Dan Nelson singled with one out and Mike Jones followed with a walk. After a line out by Travis Jones, Samuel Sime and Chris Anderson followed with back-to-back RBI singles. Mahalic (3-2) was chased from the game and saddled with the loss, giving up two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Mahalic walked four and struck out two.

Kinston would finally score in the top of the seventh inning with a Kyle Bellows solo home run off of Pelicans reliever Angelo Paulino. The blast was Bellows sixth of the season and broke up a stretch of 16 straight K-Tribers retired by Pelicans pitching. Bellows was the only base runner Kinston mustered over the final eight innings of the game, as Paulino, Ty'Relle Harris and Luis Avilan combined to shut down Kinston from the bullpen. Paulino (2-2) got the win for Myrtle Beach. Kinston's Chris Jones looked strong again in relief, giving up one hit and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Jones lowered his ERA to 0.84.

Two Tice HR's Power Captains to 5-3 Win

Jeremie Tice hit a walk off three run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Lake County Captains to 5-3 come from behind victory over the Great Lakes Loons on Wednesday. Tice drove in all five of the Captains runs by also hitting a two run home run earlier in the game.

The Loons got two runs in the top of the fifth inning when J.T. Wise doubled and scored on a home run by Rafael Ynoa and the Loons led 2-0. The Captains got a two run home run of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tice hit his eighth home run of the year to tie the game at 2-2. Wise led off the top of the seventh inning hitting his sixth home run of the year to give Great Lakes a 3-2 lead.

Captains starter Clayton Cook did not get a decision pitching six innings allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out a season high seven batters. Jose Flores came on in the top of the seventh inning and allowed one run on two hits while striking out three in two innings of work. Preston Guilmet threw a scoreless ninth inning and picked up his second win of the year.

Loons starter Rubby De La Rosa did not get a decision working six innings allowing two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out five. Luis Vasquez (1-2) allowed the three ninth inning runs and took the loss.

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