Webb leads Columbus to 7-0 shutout over Louisville

Columbus answered Louisville’s game-one shutout with a 7-3 burst in the nightcap Saturday at Huntington Park, turning the Battle for I-71 into a split and giving the Clippers a needed jolt in front of 9,152 fans. The game lasted 2:05 and came on Star Wars Night, but the loudest noise belonged to a second inning that flipped the doubleheader.

Ryan Webb supplied the tone from the mound. Entering at 0-4 with an 8.81 ERA, the left-hander picked up his first win of the season by working 5.2 innings without allowing a run. That mattered as much as anything Columbus did at the plate. After Louisville took the opener 5-0, Webb’s outing gave the Clippers the kind of starter length that keeps a bullpen from getting exposed and keeps a series from slipping away early.

The decisive damage came against Brady Richardson in the second. Milan Tolentino unloaded a grand slam, with three aboard and one out, to put Columbus in front. Kahlil Watson followed later in the inning with a two-run homer to center, pushing the lead to 7-0 and turning the rest of the night into damage control for the Louisville Bats, the top affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

Watson’s swing gave the win a different kind of edge. Tolentino’s blast broke the game open, but Watson’s power was the follow-up that showed Columbus was not relying on one hot inning from one bat. A lineup that can stack a grand slam and a two-run shot in the same frame has a different ceiling, especially in Triple-A, where one inning can reveal how quickly a club can punish mistakes.

The result also fit the rhythm of this rivalry. Columbus had already blanked Louisville 6-0 on July 11, 2025, with Webb again in the middle of it, while Louisville responded with a 7-0 shutout of its own on August 26, 2025. Saturday’s win gave Columbus another firm answer, and with Webb settling in and Watson driving the ball with authority, the Clippers left Huntington Park with a cleaner read on what can travel beyond one night.