A dominant performance from southpaw Ryan Merritt (3-2) and a home run by Robbie Grossman were all that the Columbus Clippers (19-11) needed to top Lehigh Valley (15-15) by a final score of 2-0 on Monday night in front of 7,111 pairs of eyeballs at Huntington Park.
Merritt went the entire game, giving up just four hits while walking a batter and striking out six.
He had a no hitter going until the top of the fifth inning when International League batting leader Tommy Joseph broke it up with a single to left field.
The bottom of the inning saw Grossman’s sixth home run of the year over the wall in left field, which ultimately decided the game.
It was the third consecutive game in which Grossman went yard.
Columbus was able to tack on an insurance run in the eighth inning, as Tyler Naquin’s base hit to left field scored Colin Cowgill from second base.
Merritt’s opposition in James Russell had a strong showing as well, tossing four shutout innings and giving up two hits.
Bobby LaFromboise (1-3) was issued the loss in relief for the IronPigs.
The Clippers and IronPigs will square off again for game two of their four game set tomorrow night with the first pitch coming at 6:35 p.m.
Don’t forget fans, tomorrow night is City Barbeque 4 for $6 Night. At the City Barbeque Stand in Right Field you can get 4 of City Barbeque’s famous ribs for just $6! It’s also Military ID Night, Show a valid military ID at the ticket windows and receive up to 4 Reserved seat tickets for $5 each.
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