Chase d'Arnaud slid in safely at third with a stolen base.
















Columbus Clippers  5,  Indianapolis Indians  2 
(box) 

The Indians and Clippers finally got some sunshine to play under, but the change in weather also brought a change in fortune.  The Indians' 4-game winning streak and the Clippers 4-game losing streak both came to an end, as the Clippers avoided being swept in this 4-game series at Victory Field.  


The Indians were held to just 4 hits, and half of them came off the bat of SS Chase d'Arnaud.  The Tribe batters were not able to take advantage of 3 walks either.  D'Arnaud opened the bottom of the 1st with his first hit, a cracked-bat bloop that fell in behind second base where none of the Clippers' fielders could get to it.  D'Arnaud stole second, coming in easily under a very high throw from former Indy Indian, C Luke Carlin (photo).  2B Brian Friday popped up to second base, then LF Alex Presley walked.  With RF John Bowker at the plate, d'Arnaud and Presley pulled off a double steal, to put both runners into scoring position.  Bowker hit a dribbly little "oops" ball to the left and in front of the mound, but with d'Arnaud off and running on the pitch, by the time Columbus starter Corey Kluber got to the ball, he had no play on d'Arnaud at the plate.  Bowker was out at first, but with an RBI, and the Indians had a 1-0 lead.  1B Matt Hague walked, and the Indians again had runners on the corners, but 3B Josh Harrison struck out to end the inning.  





Tribe starter Brian Burres (photo) retired the Clippers in order in the top of the 1st, but got into a little jam in the 2nd.  With one out, Burres gave up a single to DH Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis's grounder glanced off the end of d'Arnaud's glove as he stretched to make the play, and the ball ended up in center field.  Burres struck out LF Jerad Head next.  Kipnis stole second base, then 1B Wes Hodges worked a walk, to put runners on first and second base.  C Jason Jaramillo ended the inning for Burres with a throw down to first base.  Hodges was so far off the base, that the throw from Jaramillo beat him by a mile (ok, by 6 feet), and Hodges didn't even bother to slide.  

The Clippers tied the score in the top of the 3rd.  Burres got one out, then worked the count full on SS Luis Valbuena before walking him.  CF Ezequiel Carrera grounded slowly to first base, where Hague was able to make the scoop and step on the bag, but Valbuena was already sliding in to second base.  Valbuena came around to score from second base on 2B Cord Phelps' grounder down the first base line, just out of reach of Hague, who tried a dive to his left but could only tick the ball as it zipped past.  

The Altoona Curve had a scheduled day off on Monday....

West Virginia Power  9,  Kannapolis Intimidators  8
(box) 

Late inning rallies for a total of 7 runs gave the Power the win over Kannapolis.  1B Matt Curry got the scoring started with a solo home run to begin the bottom of the 2nd.  That run was overwhelmed, though, when the Intimidators exploded for 6 runs in the top of the 3rd.  Power starter Zack Von Rosenberg had allowed only one walk over the first two innings, but that fell apart in the 3rd inning.  A single, a walk, and a triple brought in two runs.  A sacrifice fly gave Von Rosenberg the first out of the inning, but it also scored the runner from third, for a 3-1 lead.  Two more singles, another triple, and another single brought in 3 more runs, for a 6-1 lead, and sent Von Rosenberg to the showers.   Zac Fuesser relieved Von Rosenberg, and Fuesser's first move was to pick off the runner on first base and get him out in a run-down.  A walk and a strikeout ended the inning.  

The Power got one of the runs back in the bottom of the 3rd, on 3B Eric Avila's double and a fielding error on LF Dan Grovatt's bouncer to short.  Fuesser gave up a pair of walks and a single in the 4th, but a timely double play kept any runs from scoring.  He also gave up a pair of singles in the 5th, but was aided by an outfield assist from Grovatt.  Kannapolis scored again in the 6th, with a two-out ground-rule double and an RBI single.  Two more doubles gave Kannapolis another run in the top of the 7th, for an 8-2 lead.

Then the Power burst out with 7 unanswered runs over their last two at-bats to take the lead and the win.  With one out, DH Jairo Marquez lined a single into left field, and Avila drove him in with a triple.  SS Drew Maggi's ground out plated Avila.  2B Kevin Mort singled and pinch-hitter Rogelios Noris walked, but they did not score in that inning.  The Power continued the surge right where they left off in the 8th.  RF Justin Howard led off with a double and CF Mel Rojas was hit by a pitch.  C Kawika Emsley-Pai loaded the bases with a walk.  Marquez drove in Howard with a single grounded into right field, leaving the bases still loaded.  Avila bounced to short, for a force out at second base, but Rojas scored the second run of the inning on the play.  After an out, Mort singled, plating Emsley-Pai, then Noris tripled in both Avila and Mort, for the tying and go-ahead runs.  

Zach Foster relieved Fuesser for the final two innings.  Foster allowed a double and hit a batter with a pitch in the 8th, but two strikeouts left them stranded.   He also walked a batter in the 9th, but got two more strikeouts to preserve the Power lead and earned his first win of the season.