Gettin Sloppy At the Clip Joint

Ezequiel Carrera

The Clippers 12-8 win tonight over the G-Braves featured 4 Gwinnett errors and 3 wild pitches, but the Clips (12-11) still almost gave this one away.  Starter Kevin Slowey (2-2, 5.68) allowed 6 earned in his 5 and 2/3, including 3 long balls.  Scott Barnes (5.60), making his first appearance since April 18th, was unable to close out the last two innings of a six run lead after walking 3 and allowing a pair of runs in his inning and 2/3.  Chris Ray was forced to enter with the bases loaded in the 9th to assure the victory.

The 12 runs came in odd fashion, even disregarding the miscues.  Matt LaPorta (.371), who came in 15-for-27 (.556) with 5 homers and 13 RBI (1.847 OPS) over his last 8 games, went hitless.  The two through four hitters went a combined 1-for-14 on a night when 18 men reached base.  It was left to Gregorio Petit (.212) to lead the O, as he came through with 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.  Chad Huffman (.300) and Ezequiel Carrera (.262) added 2 hits and 2 RBI apiece.  Since the end of his 14 game hit streak, Cord Phelps (.268) is batting just .154 (.515 OPS).

The Clippers finish up with Gwinnett tomorrow at 7:05.  My guess is that Corey Kluber (3-1, 2.67) will be the starter.

Other Minor Points of Interest -

Akron
Jared Goedert (.390) had a hit and an RBI and is sporting a 1.048 OPS.  Chun Chen (.303) is maintaing a solid batting average despite an 0-fer on Thursday.  The troublesome number is the zero in the home run column.  Chun bashed 16 home runs for Akron in 2011.  Nick Weglarz (.210) laced a single, but the big Canuck has just a .610 OPS on the season.  Rob Bryson (2.70) pitched 2 scoreless innings, fanning a pair.  He now has 17 K's in 13 IP and is holding the opposition to a .220 average.

Carolina
Jesus Aguilar (.333) homered twice and drove home all 3 Mudcats runs in their victory over Lynchburg.  The big first baseman has posted a .986 OPS.  Tony Wolters (.156) had a hit last night and has found some minimal success, but his K/H ratio is still 21/12 and his OPS sits at a lowly .435.

Lake County
Elvis Araujo (2.61) showed up with another strong start.  Although he did not figure in the decision, Elvis scattered six hits over 5 and 2/3, limiting the Dayton Dragons to 2 runs.  Despite an 0-4 record, Araujo has punches out 27 in 31 innings while walking just 8.

Cheers.