Clip & Dirty: 8/29

The Clippers went into the 2nd game of their series against the Indianpolis Indians knowing that the 1st place Lousiville Bats had already won and they knew that they had to win just to maintain the 1 ½ game gap. Columbus fell behind in the 3rd after a 3-run outburst by the Indians, but were able to tie the game up in the 4th thanks to a timely double by Cord Phelps and some speed to burn from Ezequiel Carrera. From the 5th inning on, it was all Clippers as they poured on eight hits, three walks and seven runs. The bullpen did their part by not allowing any sustained rallies and was able to scatter the hits to avoid any serious damage. The Clippers walked away with a 10-5 victory and will depart the friendly confines of Huntington Park to travel to Indianapolis to finish the home and away series against the Indians.

Team Hitting: 10R, 14H, 5XBH, 4BB, SAC, 3SB

Jared Goedert (4-5, HR, 3R, SB) did a little bit of everything on Sunday and showed why he is gaining some momentum as a candidate for 2011 Opening Day roster at 3B. His defense still receives pretty shaky reviews, but his bat might be too much to take out of the lineup. Besides, it's not like Jayson Nix or Andy Marte are doing anything to create a significant barrier for him to crack the lineup.

Ezequiel Carrera (2-5, 2B, 2R, 2RBI, 2SB) is continuing to flash his main tool by utilizing his speed to take extra bases and steal when he does get on base, however, he needs to get on base more to actually make it worthwhile. He has only drawn 7 walks compared to 22 strikeouts in more than 110 PA's. Every hitter, including Josh Rodriguez who pinch hit for Cord Phelps in the 6th, collected at least one hit. However, only two players (Carrera and Goedert) had multi-hit games.

Team Pitching: 5(4) R(ER), 13H, 4BB, 5K, 61% strikes, 44% GB

Zach McAllister got his first Win as a Clipper, but he struggled in his five innings. Throwing only 58% strikes, which includes all balls put in play as strikes, is not a way to get through many innings. Also walking three batters, striking out 1 and allowing 21 balls to be put in play against you is not a good way to prevent runs.

Jensen Lewis, Zach Putnam and Josh Judy all dutifully maintained the healthy lead that was built up by the end of the 5th and helped secure the W for McAllister. The trio gave up 6 hits over their four innings of work, but only walked one and struck out 4. By missing more bats and not giving up free passes, the high number of balls in play that fell for hits had little chance to do damage. Lewis, Putnam and Judy only gave up two runs, only one of which was earned.

The Clippers travel to Indianapolis for three games against the Indians and will hope that the Bats' drop a few games against the Mud Hens to gain in the standings. Yohan Pino will get the start for Columbus opposite Jeremy Powell.

Posted in: Clip and Dirty,Columbus