The Columbus Clippers (36-33) crushed the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (32-36) by an 11-3 score Sunday evening. Columbus pounded out 13 hits in the win as every starter joined in on the hit parade. The Clippers swept the RailRiders for the fifth win in a row and gave Clippers manager Chris Tremie 500 wins in his managerial career.
Danny Salazar (1-3, 6.11 ERA) was solid in his return from the disabled list. He went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Joel De La Cruz (2-5, 4.06 ERA) was unable to record a scoreless inning. He went four innings and allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Clippers struck first with a clutch two-out hit. Tim Fedroff walked and Jesus Aguilar singled to have a man in scoring position for Giovanny Urshela with two outs in the first. Urshela bounced a single through the left side and Fedroff beat the throw to the plate and give the Clippers the lead.
For the RailRiders Scott Sizemore doubled and Zelous Wheeler singled to tie the game at one in the second inning.
The Clippers would retake the lead on another play at the plate in the second inning. With one out Audy Ciriaco hit a ball well to left-center field that went off the glove of center fielder Antoan Richardson as he tried to make a leaping catch at the wall. Ciriaco raced around the bases to score an inside-the-park home run, the first in Huntington Park’s history. The homer for Ciriaco was his fifth and he tied three teammates for fourth on the team.
Another homer tied the game in the third. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre first baseman Corban Joseph, who was a late addition to the lineup, crushed a Salazar fastball for his second homer in 2014.
The Clippers retook the lead in the third. Elliot Johnson and Urshela each walked with one out. With two down Roberto “RoboCop” Perez singled up the middle to score Johnson and made it a 3-2 Clippers lead.
In addition to the inside the parker the Clippers hit one out of the park in the seventh. Carlos Moncrief hit an opposite field three-run shot that snuck over the wall in left and gave the Clippers a 7-3 lead. The homer was the seventh for Moncrief and he is second on the team in homers behind Aguilar’s 11.
The Clippers have homered in 11 straight games and were 8-2 in the previous 10. They’re 24-15 on the year when homering.
Tyler Cloyd (3-4, 4.58 ERA) will get the start for the Clippers Monday night against Deck McGuire (3-0, 3.28 ERA) for the Buffalo Bisons. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Huntington Park Monday.
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