The Columbus Clippers (19-16) dropped 4-1 to the Syracuse Chiefs (19-17) Sunday afternoon. The Clippers were sunk by a three-run sixth inning for the Chiefs. All three runs were unearned as two errors fueled the Syracuse rally. The loss ended the Clippers winning streak at six games.
Despite a quality start it was Kyle Davies (1-1, 2.08 ERA) who took the loss for Columbus. Davies allowed four runs, though only one was earned, on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts in six innings. Blake Treinen (1-0, 1.47 ERA) got the win going seven innings and allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts.
The Chiefs struck first in the fifth inning with an RBI single by Brandon Laird, scoring Destin Hood who reached on a walk.
The big inning was the Syracuse half of the sixth when three unearned runs scored. Jeff Howell reached on a two-base error to start the inning and scored on an Emmanuel Burriss single.
After a Brian Goodwin single in the inning a scary play occurred at first base. A grounder to Giovanny Urshela took him to the bag at third base for the first out, but his throw to first was wild and Jesus Aguilar leaped for the errant throw only to land on Steven Souza, Jr. hustling to beat the throw. Both players were evaluated and played the rest of the inning, though Aguilar was replaced at first by Audy Ciriaco in the seventh inning.
The Clippers scored one in the sixth on a Justin Sellers RBI groundout, but went into the ninth trailing for the first time in a week. A double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth from Ciriaco and a walk by Urshela got the potential tying run to the plate in the form of Carlos Moncrief. He hit the ball well to center field, but the rally and game ended as Goodwin made the play for the final out in front of the warning track.
The loss not only ended a season-high winning streak, but ended the Clippers home winning streak at eight, tied for the longest in Huntington Park history. Luke Carlin went 2-3 with two doubles, his first two extra-base hits of the season and first multi-hit game. Matt Carson extended his hitting streak to six games as he has overtaken Aguilar for the best batting average in the Clippers lineup. Aguilar, David Cooper and Tim Fedroff all ended their hitting streaks going hitless and Fedroff’s team-high on base streak ended at 25 as he failed to reach safely. The Clippers committed three errors in the loss, two in the three-run sixth.
The final game of the series and eight-game home stand at Huntington Park is a 10:35 a.m. Monday morning first pitch. The Clippers will send Travis Banwart (2-0, 3.44 ERA) to the mound against Ryan Tatusko (1-4, 2.15 ERA) for Syracuse.
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