PRESS RELEASE: COLUMBUS, OH – Columbus Clippers starting pitcher Adam Scott faced the minimum and allowed one hit in five innings on the mound en route to a 5-0 Clippers win over the Syracuse Mets on Wednesday night at Huntington Park (Box Score). Columbus has won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 10-0.
After the first two innings of the game were scoreless, Columbus (5-3) began to play long ball in the bottom of the third inning. Jose Fermin came to the plate with nobody on base and one out, working the count to 3-1. On the next pitch, the Dominican pounded a no-doubt drive over the left-field wall, stoking the home team to an early 1-0 lead. It was Fermin's first home run of the season.
The Clippers added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning via another solo shot. Once again, with nobody on base and one out, a Columbus batter left the ballpark. This time, Gavin Collins lined an 0-1 pitch just beyond the wall in left-center field, doubling the Columbus lead to 2-0. Collins, a 26-year-old native of California, hit just five home runs in 50 Triple-A games last season. Wednesday night's blast marked the first home run of this young season for Collins.
The biggest blow of the ballgame, however, was still to come. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Clippers put two runners on base with one out via a Josh Naylor walk and an Oscar Gonzalez single that moved Naylor to second. That brought Daniel Johnson to the plate, and he barely wasted any time doing his damage. After taking a strike, the left-handed hitter smacked a screaming-high line drive over the right-center field wall, scoring Naylor and Gonzalez to make it a 5-0 advantage. Johnson slugged 14 home runs in 72 games with Columbus last season.
That was all the run support the Clippers pitching staff would need, as they were downright dominant on Wednesday night. Scott, Brett Daniels, Eli Lingos, Aaron Pinto and Nick Mikolajchak combined to pitch nine shutout innings, surrendering just three hits in the process. The Columbus hurlers stuck out eight combined batters with just one walk allowed. Scott, the starting pitcher, was particularly impressive. The left-hander allowed just one hit while striking out five in his superb five-inning start.
[Adonis Medina made his first start for the Syracuse Mets after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He threw two scoreless innings, 2 hits, 3 Ks. He was followed by Rob Zastryzny (L, 0-1) 2 innings, 1 run - earned, 2 hits, 1 HR. Eric Orze, 2 innings, 4 runs - earned, 3 hits, 2 HRs, 1 walk, 1 K; Colin Holderman 2 innings, no runs, no hits, 1 K; Just three hits for Syracuse in the loss - a double by Carlos Cortes and singles by Nick Meyer and Carlos Rincon.]
Syracuse and Columbus continue their six-game series on Thursday evening. Right-hander Jose Rodriguez is slated to make his second start of the season for the Mets opposite Clippers right-hander Tobias Myers. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m.
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