Sands Helps Columbus Clippers Take 3 of 4 from Pawtucket
Columbus closed their latest road swing with series wins at Lehigh Valley and Pawtucket. By taking three of four In Pawtucket they end their season series with the Paw Sox by taking six of seven games.
Pawtucket scored all four runs in the home half of the third inning on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Clippers in the first of four games at McCoy Stadium. Bryce Brentz was the offensive hero for the Paw Sox; the right fielder was two-for-four with a home run and three RBI on the night.
Columbus took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on Michael Martinez’s third home run of the season. The Clipper centerfielder drove a first-pitch offering over the wall in left field.
Pawtucket shortstop Deven Marrero, who walked to open the top of the third inning, scored on Jemile Weeks’ one out double that hit near the base of the wall in right-center field.
With the game tied 1-1, Brentz delivered a two-out three-run blast over the centerfield wall that scored Jemile Weeks and Allen Craig, who walked. The home run gave Pawtucket a 4-1 lead and ended the game’s scoring for both teams.
Jhoulys Chacin, who was signed by the Indians to a minor league contract, took the loss for Columbus; he gave up all four runs in the 4 2/3 innings he pitched. Brian Johnson posted his fourth win of the season; he pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts. Heath Hembree picked up his fourth save of the season for the Paw Sox.
Columbus came back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat Pawtucket 6-5 in 13 innings in the second game of their weekend series, despite the efforts of Paw Sox centerfielder Rusney Castillo. Castillo had four RBI’s and banged-out three hits, two of them home runs in the game.
Game two had a similar feel to the series opener when Castillo slammed a three-run home run in the third inning giving the home team a 3-0 lead. Castillo put the Paw Sox up 4-0 in the fifth inning when he hit his second homer of the night off Clipper starter Nick Maronde, sending it over the left field wall.
Maronde gave up the fifth and final run of the night in the sixth inning on a pair of singles that sandwiched an Audy Ciriaco throwing error; he left the game with Columbus down 5-0.
Pawtucket starter Henry Owens, the Red Sox top pitching prospect, only allowed three hits and one walk in six shutout innings of work.
The Paw Sox bullpen didn’t have quite the same success. Columbus jumped all over Pawtucket relievers Jonathan Aro and Dalier Hinojosa for five runs on eight hits in the eighth and ninth innings despite five strikeouts.
Francisco Lindor and Tyler Holt had RBI hits in the eighth inning bringing Columbus to within two runs, 5-3. Lindor had a two-run triple to right field and Holt dropped a bunt single to third base.
The top of the ninth inning was a see-saw affair for Hinojosa, who walked James Ramsey to open the frame, then was unable to make a play on an Audy Ciriaco ground ball. With two on he struck out the next two batters and it looked as if the Paw Sox would escape with the victory.
Rather than focus on the batter Hinojosa threw to first hoping to catch Ciriaco napping. First baseman Luke Montz missed the throw allowing Ramsey to take third. More significantly, the play may have unnerved Hinojosa who gave up back-to-back singles to Michael Martinez and Francisco Lindor, tying the game.
The Clippers scored the game winner in the top of the 13th inning on a RBI single off the bat of Audy Ciriaco that plated James Ramsey who earlier hit his fifth double of the season.
Columbus used five pitchers in the game with C.C. Lee getting the win and Dustin Molleken earning the save. Dayan Diaz was tagged with the loss.
Columbus and Pawtucket went extra innings for the second consecutive night and the Clippers again came out on top, 4-3 in 14 innings. Dustin Molleken worked the final two innings and was credited with the win; six Columbus pitchers saw action.
The third inning again was when scoring opened, this time it was the Clippers that struck first. Following a Ryan Rohlinger walk and a Michael Martinez single, Francisco Lindor hit his second triple in as many nights to drive in two runs. Tyler Holt, who had five RBI’s in the past two games, singled Lindor home to put the Clippers up 3-0.
Lindor is 13 for 34 (.382) during an eight-game hitting streak.
Columbus starter, Toru Murata pitched seven innings giving up one run on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. Murata held the Paw Sox scoreless through five innings; the only blemish on his seven innings of work came on a solo home run by Jemile Weeks in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Kyle Crockett worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning and was in line for the save when he came out to work the ninth, things didn’t go as planned. After allowing a Bryce Brentz single to start the inning, the southpaw served up a 1-0 offering to Travis Shaw which the lefty crushed, sending the pitch deep over the left field wall and the game to extra innings tied at 3-3.
Both teams squandered scoring opportunities from the 10th through 13th innings.
In the top of the 14th inning Columbus had Audy Ciriaco on third and Ryan Rohlinger on first when Miguel Celestino uncorked a wild pitch allowing Ciriaco to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
Molleken (3-0) didn’t make things easy in the home half of the 14th. He issued a two-out walk to Jemile Weeks before giving up a line drive single to Rusney Castillo. With runners at first and third he got DH Allen Craig to ground out and end the game.
Columbus took three out of four games from Pawtucket with a 4-1 win in the series finale. The highlights for Columbus included an outstanding pitching performance from starter Michael Roth who won his fourth on the season. The right-hander pitched 7.2 innings allowing one run on five hits and one walk. He had seven strikeouts. Francisco Lindor continued his torrid pace in the final game of the series going 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI.
Lindor got the Clippers on the board first with his eighth double of the season in the top of the second inning that scored Carlos Moncrief.
Lindor started a Columbus scoring spree in the seventh inning where the Clippers added three more runs. The Indians top prospect opened the inning with a push-bunt single to first, he was sacrificed to second by Tyler Holt and scored on Jesus Aguilar’s single.
The big hit in the inning was Jerry Sands fourth home run of the season. The two-run blast over the left-center wall gave the Clippers a 4-0 lead.
Pawtucket got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning when third baseman Luis Jimenez lifted a Michael Roth offering well over the wall in left field. That made the score 4-1 Clippers and that’s how it would end.
Columbus’ win streak has reached three as the team heads home for seven games with Buffalo and Gwinnett. Pawtucket continues its foray in the International League West, the Paw Sox head to Indianapolis and Louisville for seven games.
By Mike Tanchevski
