Playoff Recaps 9/9: Martinez pitches Columbus to series win

Joe Martinez (Photo: IPI)

Columbus sweeps, Move on to Championship Series

The defending Governors' Cup champions will have a chance to defend their crown after defeating the Durham Bulls, 5-2 at Huntington Park on Friday night.

With the victory and a three-game sweep over Durham, the Clippers clinch a spot in the Governors' Cup finals and will play the winner of the Pawtucket - Lehigh Valley series.

The Clippers got on the board first after a Nick Johnson RBI double and an Argenis Reyes RBI single in the second.

Durham got one run back in the third but Columbus answered thanks to Johnson again, who singled to score Jerad Head.

They held on to a 3-2 lead heading into the eighth and were able to tack on two insurance runs. Johnson came through again with a two out double.

Ben Copeland pinch ran for him and came around to score on a Luke Carlin single, which trickled through the right side of the infield. Carlin scored from second after Rey Olmedo's throw pulled Dan Johnson off the first base bag.

Joe Martinez threw 92 pitches through eighth inning, giving up two runs on nine hits and striking out four.

Closer Zach Putnam got his second save of the post-season pitching a scoreless ninth. He forced Robinson Chirinos to pop out with a man on to end the game.

The first game of the Governors' Cup final will be Tuesday at Huntington Park. Columbus will play host to the first two games of the championship round.

Kinston dominates in Game Three win

The Kinston Indians pushed Myrtle Beach to the brink of postseason elimination Friday night with a complete performance to secure a 7-0 win. The Southern Division Championship’s third game victory gave the K-Tribe a 2-1 advantage in the best of five set.

Kinston plated the first runs of the contest for the first time in the series. Tyler Holt singled to start the ballgame. Bo Greenwell’s subsequent walk brought Adam Abraham to the plate. Abraham promptly belted a three run towering fly that cleared the left field fence for a 3-0 first inning advantage.

The K-Tribe added two runs in the bottom of the second inning when Tyler Holt Doubled down the right field line scoring Casey Frawley from third and Delvi Cid all the way from First. The score was 5-0 after two innings of play.

Holt was not done, adding his third hit, a triple, which again drove in two runs. This time it was Tyler Cannon scoring from third base as Cid raced around from first base scoring the last two runs of the game making it a 7-0 score. Kinston was able to hold off the Pelicans and win the game.

Kinston’s Starter Michael Goodnight earned the win. Goodnight pitched five innings of four hit baseball. Chris Jones pitched two shutout innings in relief, and then Trey Haley and Preston Guilmet entered to secure the combined shutout for Kinston.

The Probable starters for game number four Saturday night will be Kennil Gomez for the Pelicans and Mike Rayl for the K-Tribe. Kinston will look to eliminate the Pelicans in this best of five series with a first pitch set for 6:30pm at Grainger Stadium.

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