Clippers Rally Past Indians 7-5, Improve to 6-2 After Rain Shortens Game

Cooper Ingle crushed his first home run of the 2026 season to ignite a four-run fourth inning Saturday, lifting the Columbus Clippers to a 7-5 victory over the Indianapolis Indians in a rain-shortened contest called after six complete innings, pushing Columbus to 6-2 on the young season.

Indianapolis struck first with a three-run opening inning, putting the Clippers in an early hole against a staff known for limiting damage. Columbus chipped away with productive outs to level the score at 3-3, then broke the game open in the fourth. Ingle's homer got things started, and the Clippers piled on with RBI singles from Nolan Jones and Stuart Fairchild, run-scoring contributions from Petey Halpin and George Valera, and even a run squeezed out of a double play that pushed the lead to 7-4. Indianapolis added one more before the final out, but no further.

Tommy Mace earned the victory and improved to 1-0 after delivering 2.2 innings of relief. The right-hander allowed just one run and struck out three, giving the bullpen enough stability to hold the lead as the weather deteriorated. When conditions failed to improve, the contest was declared official in Columbus' favor.

The win carried weight beyond the box score. The Clippers erased a three-run deficit, manufactured a four-run rally through a combination of contact and execution rather than a single swing, and coaxed extended, effective work from a reliever who made a convincing early-season case. At 6-2, Columbus closes out the series Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch, carrying both the series win and the formula that produced it.