Clippers finish grueling road trip split after late offensive bursts

Columbus came home from its longest scheduled road trip of the season with a 6-6 split, and the way it got there said plenty about the Clippers’ floor. Across six games in Iowa and six in St. Paul, Columbus took hits, answered with power, then went quiet again before finishing with back-to-back wins that left the club at 23-22 overall.

The trip opened with a 9-6 win in Des Moines on May 5, when Juan Brito doubled and drove in three runs. The next night, Columbus had one of its best pitching efforts of the swing and still walked away empty-handed, dropping a 3-2 decision in 11 innings to the Iowa Cubs despite 11 hits. Rorik Maltrud was sharp enough to win most nights, firing 7.0 scoreless innings with one hit allowed and eight strikeouts, but the Clippers could not turn that control into a finish.

They answered quickly. Two days later, Cooper Ingle and Angel Genao each homered in the eighth inning to break a tie and fuel a 4-2 win, then Kahlil Watson delivered the loudest night of the Iowa leg on May 10, going deep twice and driving in six in a 9-4 win. That stretch underscored the version of Columbus that travels well when it is right: not one big inning, but multiple waves of offense that can erase a deficit in a hurry.

The St. Paul portion was just as uneven. On May 13, the Clippers scored eight runs from the sixth through the eighth inning to beat the Saints 8-3, with Watson driving in a key pair on a double and Trenton Denholm covering 3.1 scoreless relief innings. Two days later, the margins turned against them in an 8-5 loss. Columbus hit two home runs but also committed two errors, and St. Paul cashed in with eight runs on nine hits to snap the momentum.

Columbus still finished strong. On May 16, the Clippers hit three home runs and piled up 11 hits in an 11-7 win, with George Valera, Ingle and Genao all leaving the yard. The finale on May 17 was tighter and more revealing. Ingle tied the game with a solo homer in the eighth, Juan Brito later scored the go-ahead run on a balk, and Will Dion earned the win in a 3-2 victory that closed the road trip with consecutive wins.

For a Triple-A club trying to sort out its identity, 6-6 on the road is not decoration. It is a stress test. Columbus showed it can survive an 11-inning loss, absorb a sloppy night with two errors, and still find enough late offense to leave town level. The Clippers now return to Huntington Park for a series against Louisville beginning May 19.