The Columbus Clippers (32-33) won the series and season finale at the Charlotte Knights (23-43) 14-2 Tuesday afternoon. The Clippers scored a run in each of the first four innings and scored four more in the seventh and one in the ninth. The win made it a winning road trip as Columbus went 6-4 in the 10 games.
Zach McAllister (1-0, 3.00 ERA) only made two bad pitches in his rehab start for the Clippers. McAllister earned a quality start going six innings and giving up two runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Charlie Leesman (2-6, 3.95 ERA) had a tough time with the hot-hitting Clippers. He only lasted three innings and allowed eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits and four walks with one strikeout.
The Clippers struck first as they had so often throughout the series. After a two-out single by Jesus Aguilar and an Adam Abraham walk an RBI single by Giovanny Urshela made it 1-0 Columbus. Carlos Moncrief then ripped the first pitch he saw to right for an RBI single.
In the second Jose Ramirez made it 3-0 Clippers. Ramirez lined a solo homer with two outs, his fifth of the year. The five homers are a career high for Ramirez and he’s tied with four other Clippers for second on the team in homers behind Aguilar.
The Knights rallied for runs via the long ball in the bottom of the second. Jordan Danks and Matt Davidson hit back-to-back homers and draw within one.
The Clippers scored a pair in the top of the third inning to make it a three-run game again. Abraham led off the inning with a single, Urshela reached on an error and Moncrief singled to fill the bases with no outs. Ryan Rohlinger singled and Justin Sellers hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 Clippers.
“El Jefe” did it again Tuesday. Aguilar crushed his ninth homer of the year to center, a three-run bomb to give the Clippers an 8-2 lead in the fourth. Aguilar hadn’t homered for a month between Columbus and Cleveland. In the seventh he hit his second three-run homer of the game and finished with six RBI. He has three homers in three games since rejoining the Clippers from Cleveland.
Eight of nine starters recorded a hit, eight of nine had multiple hit games and eight of nine had an RBI in the win as the Clippers pounded out 20 total hits in the game, seven for extra bases. The Clippers homered five times, most in one game for Columbus in 2014. Ramirez, Aguilar, Urshela and Moncrief each had three hits.
The Clippers have a scheduled off day Wednesday. Columbus returns to Huntington Park to start a series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
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