Columbus Clippers Take 2 of 3 With 12th Inning Win
The Columbus Clippers improved their road record to 7-12 by taking two of three games from the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs at Coca-Cola Park. The Clippers continue to cling to a half-game lead over Indianapolis in the International League West. Lehigh Valley has the worst record in the International League at 10-24.
Columbus continued its winning ways, this time on the road, taking the first game of three at Lehigh Valley, 6-2. It was the Clippers’ seventh consecutive win. They used a dual pronged attack, outstanding pitching, a hallmark of the Clippers season thus far, to check the Iron Pigs offense, and extra base hits to score runs in bunches. Michael Roth pitched eight innings for the Clippers; he gave up two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out seven in the victory.
Roth’s only miscue occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning. Following a Brian Bogusevic single, Maikel Franco hit a towering home run to left field to give Lehigh Valley a 2-0 lead. That would be all the offense they could generate as Roth ran his season record to 3-1. Dustin Molleken pitched a scoreless ninth for the Clippers.
Columbus tied the game at two with a two-run sixth inning. Tyler Holt led the inning off with a single and moved to third after Jesus Aguilar stroked a double to deep center. Holt scored on a ground out by Jerry Sands; Aguilar came around to score on a triple by Audy Ciriaco.
The Clippers broke the game wide open in the top of the eighth inning with eight batters coming to the plate. Jerry Sands and James Ramsey each singled to set the table for Audy Ciriaco’s first home run of the season. The three-run blast to left field gave Columbus a 5-2 lead. The Clippers added an additional run in the inning as Ryan Rohlinger scored from second base on a fielder’s choice with a throwing error.
Ciriaco had an outstanding night at the plate going three-for-four, a single shy of the cycle, with four RBI’s.
Jason Berken (2-2) was the losing pitcher for the Iron Pigs.
Lehigh Valley snapped the Clippers’ win streak at seven with a dramatic 6-5 victory in Game 2 of the series. The Iron Pigs scored two runs in the ninth inning off Clipper reliever Austin Adams to win their tenth game of the season.
The ninth inning rally was the fourth lead change in a game that saw both starting pitchers get knocked around. Clipper Jordan Cooper lasted 4.1 innings and gave up three runs on six hits and three walks. Lehigh Valley starter David Buchanan went 6.2 innings giving up five runs on ten hits.
Columbus took the early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run by Jerry Sands, it was Sands third of the season. They took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on an RBI single off the bat of Audy Ciriaco.
Lehigh Valley took a 4-3 lead as when they chased Jason Cooper in the bottom of the fifth inning after the starter gave up a run on three consecutive singles. They continued the onslaught against reliever Giovanni Soto, who allowed a two-run triple to the first batter he faced, Domonic Brown, and an RBI single to Jordan Danks.
The third lead-change of the game occurred in the top of the seventh as the Clippers added two runs to go up 5-4.The inning opened with Iron Pig mistakes, Ryan Rohlinger was then hit by a pitch and Michael Martinez reached on an error. It ended with RBI singles from Tyler Holt and Jesus Aguilar.
Austin Adams had an unforgettable ninth inning in the blown save. The closer walked three Iron Pig batters and hit one; he mixed in a sacrifice bunt before giving up the game winning single to Maikel Franco.
Columbus had won 81 consecutive games when taking a lead to the ninth before the Game 2 loss. The streak dated to August 2013.
The third contest between Lehigh Valley and Columbus was a 10:30 am getaway game that wouldn’t let anyone get away. The game went 12 innings and, thanks to sloppy play on the part of the Iron Pigs, the Clippers pulled out a 3-2 win.
Both starting pitchers were effective at shutting down the opponent for the first half of the game. Shaun Marcum, who came into the game with a 4-0 record, pitched seven innings for the Clippers, allowing one run on four hits and three walks. He struck out four and left with a 1.36 ERA. Lehigh Valley’s Phillippe Aumont also pitched seven innings. He held the Clippers scoreless scattering, five hits and striking out seven.
Lehigh Valley scored the game’s first run in the home half of the third inning. A Domonic Brown two-out single plated Brian Bogusevic. That was all the scoring until the top of the ninth inning.
Iron Pig reliever Tyler Knigge worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning in relief and came out again in the ninth but didn’t fare as well. He gave up a lead-off single to Tyler Holt who then smartly tagged-up on a fly ball to deep right. Holt then caught Knigge unaware and stole third; he then raced home when Knigge made an errant throw to an uncovered base.
The Iron Pigs were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.
The tenth inning saw Lehigh Valley reliever Colton Murray serve one up to Alex Lavisky, who turned on the pitch sending it over the left field wall to put the Clippers up 2-1. It was his first home run of the season.
Shawn Armstrong came out to pitch the bottom of the tenth inning for the Clippers and had troubles of his own. The right-hander walked the first batter and misplayed a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second with none out. Armstrong looked as if he would escape the dilemma until the hero of game two, Maikel Franco, laced a single to left to continue the game.
Both sides went down quietly in the eleventh inning
Ryan Rohlinger opened the twelfth inning with a single and was advanced to second on an Alex Lavisky sacrifice bunt. Francisco Lindor singled to left field and took second on a poor throw from the outfield. With runners on second and third and one out Tyler Holt came through again, he hit a soft ground ball at Neris who was unable to make a play, allowing Rohlinger to score the go ahead run.
Dustin Molleken closed out the bottom of the twelfth inning for his second win of the season.
Columbus travels to Pawtucket for a four game series and Lehigh Valley will host Rochester for four.
By Mike Tanchevski
