COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Clippers (68-54) held off a late rally and edged the Gwinnett Braves (65-57) by a 4-3 score Sunday night in the finale of the four-game series at Huntington Park.
With the loss, Gwinnett is now 3.0 games behind the Clippers in the International League Wild Card race. The G-Braves remain 5.5 games behind Norfolk in the IL South as the Tides were beaten by Louisville 4-0 on Sunday.
Gwinnett took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as Sean Kazmar doubled to left off Columbus starter Jarrett Grube, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Todd Cunningham and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Daniel Castro.
After a strong first inning, Gwinnett starter Tyrell Jenkins had a tough bottom of the second. Michael Martinez laid down a leadoff bunt single and moved to second on an infield single by Erik Gonzalez. James Ramsey then bunted, and, after fielding the ball, Jenkins threw the ball away at third allowing Martinez to score the tying run. Gonzalez moved to third on the error and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to left by Audy Ciriaco. After walking Tyler Naquin, Jenkins allowed a single to Tyler Holt scoring Ramsey for a 3-1 Clippers’ lead.
The Clippers added a run in the bottom of the fifth off Gwinnett reliever Vin Mazzaro. Holt singled to left, moved to second on a single by Adam Moore and to third when Martinez bounced into a force play. Gonzalez followed with a single to right, scoring Holt for a 4-1 lead.
The G-Braves rallied in the top of the eighth against Columbus reliever Shawn Armstrong. Kazmar and Cunningham drew back-to-back one-out walks, and an infield single by Castro loaded the bases. Luis Mateo drove a single to right scoring both Kazmar and Cunningham to make it 4-3. Columbus opted for lefty Michael Roth out of the bullpen to work to Mallex Smith. Smith bounced into a force play to put runners on the corners with two outs. Again Columbus went to the bullpen, this time for right-hander Carlos Marmol. He walked Eric Young, Jr. to load the bases, but struck out Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman to end the threat.
In the top of the ninth, Cedric Hunter was walked by Marmol and stole second, but the G-Braves failed to score as Marmol nailed down the save.
Jenkins (L, 3-4) was lifted after 2.0 innings for unknown reasons. He allowed three runs on four hits, walked two and struck out one. Mazzaro worked 3.0 innings with three hits, one earned run, one walk and three strikeouts. Jason Hursh tossed 2.0 innings with two hits and one walk. David Carpenter pitched 1.0 inning with one strikeout.
Grube (W, 8-0) worked 6.0 innings with seven hits, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts. Giovanni Soto went 0.1 of an inning with one hit and one walk. Armstrong was credited with 1.0 inning with two hits, two earned runs and two walks. Roth tossed 0.1 of an inning. Marmol (S, 9) pitched 1.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
Mateo led Gwinnett offensively, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Christian Bethancourt went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a season-best nine games. Hunter was also 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a season-best 11 games. Freeman, in his first rehab game with Gwinnett, went 1-for-5.
For the Clippers, Gonzalez was 2-for-2, while Martinez and Holt were each 2-for-4.
The G-Braves start the last leg of the three-city road trip on Monday night with the first of a two-game series in Toledo against the Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Left-hander Greg Smith (6-4, 2.21 ERA) will start for Gwinnett, while Toledo will counter with right-hander Shane Greene (1-1, 3.16 ERA). First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
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