The Columbus Clippers (22-22) lost at the Syracuse Chiefs (23-22) 5-3 on getaway day Tuesday afternoon. Columbus ends the road trip 2-6 after a 7-1 home stand. The Clippers got the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth, but left a runner on first to end the game.
Daniel Stange (2-2, 6.05 ERA) was the winner as he took the Chiefs to the fifth in two innings of relief. Stange allowed one run on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Michael Gonzalez was in for the save and closed out the ninth for the Chiefs, his second of the season.
Danny Salazar (0-1, 16.88) had a rough outing in his first game with the Clippers since being optioned down by Cleveland. He lasted only two and two-thirds innings and gave up five runs on six hits with three walks and one strikeout.
Taylor Jordan (0-0, 1.93) also left early, but for a different reason. An unknown injury limited him to just 48 pitches. Jordan went three innings and allowed two runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in his third straight no-decision with Syracuse.
The Clippers jumped out to a quick lead on Elliot Johnson’s first homer of the season. He crushed a pitch to right to make it 1-0 Columbus.
The Chiefs responded with a two-run first. A two-out double by Steven Souza, Jr. kept the inning alive for Brock Peterson who hit a two-run homer, his third of 2014. The Chiefs got another run in the second on an RBI double by Sandy Leon, who caught for Syracuse and gave Jhonatan Solano the day off.
The third inning saw the end of the day for both starters. Jordan allowed an RBI single to Giovanny Urshela as the Clippers cut the lead in half and made it 3-2 in the inning. Jordan left with his injury after the top of the third inning.
In the bottom of the third back-to-back singles by Souza and Peterson set up an RBI double by Brian Goodwin off of Salazar. With runners on second and third the Clippers chose to intentionally walk the bases loaded with two outs. Four pitches later with Vinnie Pestano pitching Sean Nicol forced in a run and made it 5-2 Syracuse.
In the game Columbus right fielder Carlos Moncrief threw out a runner at home. What made it unconventional is that it was on a single by Will Rhymes to Moncrief when Nicol tried to score from third. A bad slide from Nicol and good tag by catcher Luke Carlin nailed Nicol. It was Moncrief’s seventh outfield assist of the season.
The Clippers have a scheduled off day Wednesday with the conclusion of the road trip. Columbus returns to action Thursday at Huntington Park at 6:35 p.m. as the Clippers begin a four-game set with the Durham Bulls. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. It will also be Columbus Zoo night as Jack Hanna will throw out the first pitch.
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