Nellie Rodriguez homers twice as rain-soaked Columbus rally falls short

Columbus Clippers 5, Buffalo Bisons 7

Box Score · Clippers fall to 50-43

The Clippers were thrown for a loop yesterday as scheduled starter Ryan Merritt was recalled to Cleveland for emergency bullpen depth support.

Veteran Jarrett Grube stepped in and provided a quality start, giving up three runs over six innings while striking out seven and walking six.

Offensively, Yandy Diaz, Richie Shaffer and Nellie Rodriguez all had multi-hit games, with both of Rodriguez’s hits being home runs as the struggling first baseman had four runs batted in on the night.

Unfortunately, relievers Cole Sulser and Travis Banwart gave up two runs apiece out of the bullpen. The Clippers were trailing 7-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth and they managed to put four runs on the board but the rally fell just short.

Lake County Captains 2, Burlington Bees 9

Box Score · Captains fall to 38-55

It was a rough night for Lake County pitchers as they surrendered 17 hits in total. Starting pitcher Luis Jimenez gave up four runs on 10 hits while striking out just one and walking one.

Offensively, the Captains walked zero times and Mitch Longo was the lone position player to rack up a multi-hit game, going 2-4 with a triple, a run batted in and a run scored in the loss.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 11, Batavia Muck Dogs 5

Box Score · Scrappers improve to 16-11

The vaunted Mahoning Valley offense absolutely exploded yesterday, racking up 17 hits to blow out Batavia despite committing four errors.

Every starter collected at least one hit with Will Benson, Tyler Friis and Clark Scolamiero all racking up three-hit games. Simeon Lucas also went 2-5 with with a grand slam.

Starting pitcher Francisco Perez gave up two earned runs on seven hits spread over five innings while walking one and striking out three. Cameron Mingo earned the win with two shutout innings of relief.

DSL Indians 4, DSL Rangers1 6

Box Score · Indians fall to 14-22

Catcher Yainer Diaz went 2-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch while top prospect Marcos Gonzalez walked twice and scored a run in an ugly game that featured four errors and a lack of clutch hitting as both teams combined to go 3-15 with runners in scoring position.

Indians starter Mike Garcia gave up five runs (four earned) in just 3.2 innings to drop 1-5 on the season.

The Double-A Akron RubberDucks and High-A Lynchburg Hillcats had their games rained out. The Rookie League AZL Indians had a scheduled day off.

No video highlights today because YouTube is acting screwy.