Clippers blast three homers in seven-run inning to top IronPigs
Columbus erased Lehigh Valley’s three-homer night with a seven-run fourth, then held on for an 8-5 win at Coca-Cola Park.
Columbus flipped the game with one violent fourth inning, sending three homers over the fence and leaving Lehigh Valley with an 8-5 loss Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The IronPigs had plenty of power of their own, but the Clippers’ seven-run burst wiped out the home club’s early edge and evened the series at a game apiece.
Keaton Anthony opened the scoring for Lehigh Valley in the second with a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, and Christian Cairo added a solo shot in the fourth. Those swings kept the IronPigs in position early, but Columbus answered with the kind of inning that can decide a Triple-A game in minutes. The Clippers stacked three home runs in the fourth and also scored once on an error, turning a manageable contest into a wide gap before Lehigh Valley could slow the momentum.
That was the difference between loud offense and controlled offense. Lehigh Valley finished with three homers and enough hard contact to win on many nights, but Columbus paired power with timing, forcing the IronPigs to spend the rest of the night chasing the damage from one lost frame. Ryan Cusick took the loss for Lehigh Valley, while Will Dion earned the win for Columbus and Jack Leftwich picked up his third save.
The IronPigs did make one last push. Tommy Pham singled home a run in the eighth to cut the deficit to 8-5, and Lehigh Valley loaded the bases before Leftwich struck out the next two batters to end the threat. Milan Tolentino also added an RBI double for Columbus in the fifth, giving the Clippers another cushion after the fourth-inning explosion had already changed the shape of the game.
The result came one day after Lehigh Valley opened the set with a 3-2, 10-inning win over Columbus, a reminder of how quickly the series had become a test of execution in key innings. Lehigh Valley entered at 42-47 overall and 7-7 in the second half, while Columbus improved to 49-39 and 8-6. The teams were set to continue the series Thursday at 6:45 p.m., with Kolby Allard scheduled for the IronPigs and Austin Peterson for the Clippers.
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