Clip Joint Slip N' Slide

Trevor Crowe

Yeesh, so now there are no starters fighting for that spot start.  Kevin Slowey (1-2, 4.50) was unable to maintain the momentum that he had built in his first two outings as he was beat for 6 earned on 10 hits over 5 and 1/3 in Louisville tonight.  Add in 3 walks and Slowey put 13 guys on base.  Not good.  Nor was Jeremy Accardo (1.59), who delivered his first dog outing of the young season.  Accardo (0.2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K) entered with the bases loaded in the 6th and not only allowed all three of those runners to score, but let in one of his own and surrendered the lead.  Hector Ambriz (1.35) pitched two perfect innings to finish the game.

The offense was highlighted by the return of Matt LaPorta (.316), who produced a single and a walk.  Trevor Crowe (.469) and Lonnie Chisenhall (.380) both continued their hot hitting.  Crowe fell a homer short of the cycle and has 8 hits in his last 11 at-bats.  The Chiz Kid went 9-for-18 over the four game set with the Bats, complete with four doubles and 3 RBI.  Despite going just 1-for-5, Cord Phelps (.327) extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  He has hit in 11 of 12 games this season.

After a 6-1 start, the Clips have won just 1 of their last 5.  They move on to Indianapolis tomorrow at 7:05p.  Expect Corey Kluber (2-0, 3.60) to be on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Akron
Not much from the offense.  Jared Goedert (.371) added two more hits and Chun Chen (.250) finally broke through, going 3-for-4 with a double.  Each scored a run.

Much more interesting was the work by the pitching staff.  Toru Murata (3.38) took the spot start and pitched well enough over 3 innings (4 H, 2 ER).  Then, Bryce Stowell (1-0) entered and fanned 7 over 3 innings.  He did allow his first two hits of the season and opponents can now claim to be hitting a robust .125.  Stowell has whiffed 11 in 5 frames.  After that came Cody Allen who K'ed a pair and allowed a hit in his own two clean innings.  Across two levels, Allen has stymied the other team to the tune of an .077 clip and 12 punch outs in 8 innings.  Neither man has been scored on in 2012.

Carolina
Stop the presses!  Tony Wolters (.122) got a hit.  Jesus Aguilar (.353) did as well, but that's not as exciting.  Jake Lowery (.351) did not, but he did draw a walk.  On the hill, Danny Salazar (0-2, 7.04) took the loss.  Salazar (4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) is the guy on the 40-man of whom you've never heard.

Lake County
It was not a great offensive night for the Captains, but Luigi Rodriguez (.357) did extend his hit streak to 8 games.  Felix Sterling started, but did not figure in the decision.  Sterling pitched well over six innings (2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) and has certainly delivered thus far.  The 19 year old has held the opposition to a .148 average (that's 8 total hits allowed in 3 starts) and has punched out 14 in 16 innings.  Also, Francisco Lindor (.308) singled and swiped his 4th bag.

Cheers

P.s. Did you know that there's a Clay Rapada AND a Clay Zavada?  Both are left handed relievers.