A Little Home Cookin' At the Clip Joint

Ezequiel Carrera

A day after posting just a single run against Syracuse, the Columbus offense came alive, serving up an offensive smorgasbord.  Since it was a home game, Matt LaPorta (.328), of course, hit a home run.  Ezequiel Carrera (.254) launched his first of the year and drove home four.  Jason Donald (.500) added 2 hits and 2 walks, despite an error and Russ Canzler (.259) had 3 hits and an RBI of his own.  All of this against John Lannan.  Remember his shocking demotion at the tail end of Spring Training?  Lannan (3-4, 5.80) allowed six earned on 11 hits and 4 walks over six innings and has struggled to dial in mentally at the AAA level.

The Clips pitching was much, much better.  Chris Seddon (4-2, 4.23) earned the win with 6 and a third of 2 run ball.  If you have ever seen Seddon you would agree that he looks about as unlike a ballplayer as one might, but the kid keeps getting the job done.  Tonight included 5 hits, 2 walks and 7 K's.  On the season, Seddon has punched out 41 in 44.2 innings.

The bullpen was once again effective with efforts from Cody Allen and Frank Herrmann.  Allen (3.60) pitched 1 and 2/3 perfectly, fanning a pair.  Allen has acclimated well to AAA after dominating the lower levels earlier in the season.  He has whiffed 29 in 21.2 overall against just 2 free passes.  Herrmann (3.50) put the first two men on the ninth before striking out the side to close the game.

It's another 6:35p affair with Syracuse tomorrow.  I'm not quite sure who's going to pitch; the rotation is all screwed up.  Best guess: David Huff.


Other Minor Points Of Interest --

Akron
The Aeros lost a squeaker this afternoon, 2-1 in Erie.  Akron had 5 hits.  Jared Goedert (.395) had 3 of them, including a triple, and scored the team's only run.  Goedert was brought home on a Thomas Neal (.260) single with two outs in the 9th.

Both Rob Bryson and Bryan Price pitched out of the 'pen, though neither fared particularly well.  Bryson (2.70) loaded the bases in the 5th on 2 walks and a single before escaping.  Price (2.82) served up a gopher ball to the first man he faced in the 8th.

Carolina
Another strong evening from 1B Jesus Aguilar (.312), who singled three times and drove home a run.  A double apiece for Jake Lowery (.262) and Tony Wolters (.186).

Lake County
Another day, another 2 hits for Francisco Lindor (.322).  Tonight, it was a single and a double, along with an RBI.  A single/double pairing for Luigi Rodriguez (.289) as well, in addition to a walk and a run scored.  After a 1-for-24 start to May, L-Rod is batting .321 over his past 7 games.  Alex Lavisky's struggles continue.  Despite 2 hits tonight, Lavisky (.237) still has more strike outs (34) than hits (28).  Perhaps the bigger problem, Alex, pegged as a big bopper, has socked just 2 home runs in 2012, while posting a .659 OPS.

Cheers.