Clip Joint's Got Southern Swagger

Zach McAllister

If you'd care to write the recipe for a win on a sunny Sunday afternoon in northern Georgia you might begin with an excellent outing by your starting pitcher.  Zach McAllister (5-2, 2.98) gave the Clippers six strong innings this afternoon, surrendering 2 runs on 7 hits, a walk and 2 K's.  Outside of a dicey third frame, in which Gwinnett scored both of their runs on a trio of hits, Z-Mac never allowed a runner past second base and retired the last 7 that he faced.  He has held the opposition to a .238 average in 2012.  We need you, Zach.  C'mon, up!

Next you mix in a hot hitting middle of the order guy, in this case, Russ Canzler.  A few days ago, I was putting Russ (.268) down for not living up to his MVP season of 2011.  Since then, he has hit in 5 straight (7-for-16, .438) with 3 homers and 12 RBI.  Prior to the outburst, he had 18 ribbies all year!  Canzler singled in a run and walked twice this afternoon, raising his OPS to .744, after it had been just .686 on the 14th.  Hey, Antonetti, call him up too!

Sprinkle in a couple additional players with nice offensive games.  Cord Phelps (.275) singled, homered, walked, scored twice and drove home 3.  He's hitting .329 in June.  Jason Donald (.292) added 2 hits and 2 runs scored. 

Finish with dominant relief.  Matt Langwell (1.93, 2/3 of an inning), Scott Barnes (3.64, 1 and third) and Chris Ray (1.93, 1 IP) followed McAllister with scoreless relief and never gave the Braves an opportunity to get back into the game.

The Clips move on to Charlotte tomorrow at 7:15p.  I'd wager that TJ McFarland will get the nod.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

Steven Wright (5-4, 1.79) and his dancing knuckleball took the hill and took the loss despite allowing just 3 hits and fanning 7 over 6 innings.  An error, a walk and two wild pitches contributed to Reading pushing 4 runs (3 earned) over against Wright, while the Aeros mustered just two.  How has Steven managed just a game over .500 with such a dazzling ERA?  The Aeros have scored just 40 runs in his 12 starts (3.3 per) and 10 of those came in one game.  Loek Van Mil (1.29), the 7'1" dude, finished with two scoreless frames.

Lake County

Luigi Rodriguez (.276) is mired in a 3-for-20 slump over his past four games after an 0-for-4 performance today.  Additionally, L-Rod, who is 12-for-17 in stolen base attempts this season, has yet to attempt a steal in June.  Felix Sterling (5.70) threw a perfect inning out of the 'pen after making his first 14 appearances as a starter.  Sterling had been knocked around pretty well since late May, posting a 13.50 ERA and a 2.17 WHIP since the 23rd.

Cheers.