Playing in their first elimination game of the postseason, the Indianapolis Indians looked to live to play another day against the Columbus Clippers in Game 3 of the best-of-five Governor’s Cup Championship.
The Indians guaranteed that Game 4 will be played at Victory Field in Indianapolis by overcoming a four-run deficit to defeat the Clippers 6-5.
Pirates top prospect Tyler Glasnow got the ball in Game 3 for Indianapolis and he got off to a rocky start. Over his first four innings, Glasnow allowed four runs, but then settled down over his final two and two-thirds innings of work by not allowing a Columbus runner to score. Glasnow worked through six plus innings for the first time in his last five starts. The top prospect allowed four runs on six hits while striking out six and walking two.
The Clippers got out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of an Adam Moore sacrifice fly which scored Zach Walters. Yandy Diaz, the next hitter in the inning, took Glasnow yard to put the away team ahead by two runs.
Columbus would follow their two-run second inning with a solo homer off the bat of Michael Choice in the third. The home run, Choice’s second of the postseason, would put the home team down three runs with six innings to play.
Scoring would not stop in the fourth for the Clippers as Walters would get in on the home run action putting one of Glasnow’s 111 pitches over the right field fence to give Columbus a 4-0 advantage.
The league leaders in come-from-behind victories in the regular season, Indianapolis was no stranger to early deficits. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Indians began to chip away at the Clippers lead. Gorkys Hernandez started the hit parade off with a 1-out double. First baseman Josh Bell followed the Hernandez double up with a two-bagger of his own to plate the center fielder. Willy Garcia singled to left and went to third on a double by John Bowker, which scored Bell. Next up was Keon Broxton, who hit a fly ball to center field to score Garcia to cut the lead to one.
Glasnow would settle in against the Columbus offense and would finish by sending down 9-of-11 Clippers hitters to finish off his night. The top prospect fared better than his pitching counter part, Will Roberts, who was ousted after facing one batter in the fifth inning, having given up four runs on five hits in his four innings of work.
Catcher Tony Sanchez would single in the bottom half of the fifth to chase Roberts and get to the Columbus bullpen. Sanchez would later score along with Gustavo Nunez on a Hernandez single with the bases loaded to give the Indians a one-run advantage after five innings.
Columbus would get a run back in the eighth inning to tie it off a Moore single, which plated Walters.
All squared up at five in the bottom of the eighth inning, Indianapolis led the inning off with a Broxton walk followed up by a Dan Gamache sacrifice bunt to move Broxton into scoring position. Sanchez would reach on an error, moving Broxton up 90 feet to third base, which in turn allowed Broxton to score on a Nunez ground out and retake the lead 6-5.
Jeremy Bleich got the win for the Indians in Game 4 by going one-third of an inning to set up Blake Wood with the save. Joseph Colon got the loss for Columbus going an inning and allowing a earned run, striking out one, and walking one.
Game 5 is set for a first pitch of 7:35pm Friday at Victory Field. 11-game winner Chad Kuhl takes the bump for Indianapolis as they look to fend off elimination for the second night in a row. Jarrett Grube, a 13-game winner, takes the ball for the visiting Clippers. Columbus is ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five game series.
Photo credit: MiLB.com
