Ex-'Pigs lead Clippers past IronPigs

Rich Thompson was a microsecond too slow Sunday afternoon.

So, too, was Luis Maza's throw.

Those two plays, one in the bottom of the ninth, the other in the top of the 10th, led to another one-run IronPigs loss.

Jared Head barely beat Maza's relay throw in the top of the 10th inning on what would have been an inning-ending double play, allowing Shelley Duncan to score the go-ahead run and give Columbus a 4-3 win over Lehigh Valley before a Mothers Day crowd of 9,120.

That play came just a few moments after Thompson was called out at first on a bang-bang play on a bouncer bobbled initially by shortstop Anderson Hernandez that would have loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Television replays backed up first base umpire Damien Beal's call in both cases.

Duncan led off the 10th with a double off Ehren Wassermann (0-2), then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After two walks -- one intentional, the other not -- loaded the bases, Head hit a bouncer to Melvin Dorta at short. Dorta flipped to Maza for the first out but Head beat Maza's relay down the line.

The IronPigs (12-17) trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning but got a one-out baserunner when Neil Sellers slapped a single to right. Dane Sardinha followed with a comebacker to Columbus reliever Saul Rivera, but Rivera's throw to second skipped off Hernandez's glove for an error, leaving both runners safe.

After Sellers moved up on a wild pitch, pinchhitter Melvin Dorta beat Jason Donald's relay on a potential double play ball, allowing Sellers to score the tying run. After Chris Duffy's single kept the inning going, Thompson bounced to Hernandez, who bobbled the ball momentarily before his throw barely beat the IronPigs outfielder for the final out.

The setback dropped the IronPigs' record in one-run games to 2-9.

Carlos Carrasco, along with Donald two parts of last summer's trade with Cleveland that brought over Cliff Lee, pitched six innings to earn the win as Columbus (20-11) became the first International League team to get to 20 wins. Durham (19-11) played at Scranton later Sunday night.

The IronPigs (12-17) tied the game at 2-2 on Sardinha's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth before Donald led off the seventh with a bouncing single up the middle against Brian Gordon, who replaced Joe Savery to start the inning.

After Sardinha hustled to his left to grab a strange sacrifice bunt attempt by Carlos Santana, Cleveland's top prospect who had been 6-for-15 in the series and hitting .316 for the season, Gordon got Duncan on a fly to center for the second out.

However, Wes Hodges followed with a drive to right center that got to the wall. Maza appeared to have a shot at Donald at the plate after taking a strong throw from Thompson but the second baseman's relay throw was up the third base line to allow Donald to slip around Sardinha with the go-ahead run at the time.

Carrasco, who had been one of the Phillies top pitching prospects before last summer's trade, allowed six hits and two runs, striking out four and walking two.

Savery showed his best command of the season, coming within a batter of only his fourth pro start without a walk. The former first-round pick allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts, three of them by leadoff hitter Trevor Crowe.

Two of those strikeouts came in the first when Savery fanned both Santana and Duncan after Donald's one-out triple to right. Savery had just one tough inning, the fourth when Clolumbus scored both their runs on four hits, including an RBI triple by Jordan Brown and a run-scoring single by Chris Gimenez that extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

However, after a single by Head left Clippers on first and second with one out, Savery got Anderson Hernandez on a popup, then struck out Crowe to end the inning.

The IronPigs answered back in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1 on a leadoff triple by Thompson and an RBI single by Andy Tracy through the right side. After walking Cody Ransom, Carrasco got out of the inning when Dewayne Wise flew out ro left and Sellers looked at a called third strike.

After Sardinha's lead-off homer in the sixth, a drive that just got over the yellow line in right. Later, a single by Thompson and a walk put Carrasco in two-out trouble. But Gimenez bailed him out with a diving catch after a long run in right to take extra bases and at least one RBI away from Tracy.

Donald, whose average fell from .323 to .294 after going 1-for-13 in the first three games of the series, boosted his mark back to .307 by going 3-for-5.

Thompson had three hits to raise his average to .338.

FROM THE MORNING CALL