Leo: The Clippers are HOT!!!

The city of Columbus is scorched with temperatures in the mid 90′s (with humidity it feels over 100) and the defending Triple-A National champs are heating up too…

The Clippers have won five straight, including two over the always tough Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. It hasn’t been a picture-perfect five game stretch, but wins are all that matter.

Columbus blew a 6-2 lead in the 9th  inning Monday, only to see Jerad Head play the role of hero (again) with a walk-off blast right around the time the clock struck midnight (the game had been rain-delayed an hour and 55 minutes).

On Tuesday, Paolo Espino (sporting an ERA over 30.00) stepped into the spotlight and delivered five scoreless frames to get a victory. The Columbus bullpen was in shambles, so right-hander Tyler Sturdevant was summoned from Double-A. He proceeded to give Mike Sarbaugh three solid innings, allowing the bullpen to get back on track. Sturdevant was sent back to Akron after the game.

Now the Clippers have a chance to again showcase their talents in front of the cameras. Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon’s games can both be seen live on SportsTime Ohio.

Bruce Drennan will host “All Best Are Off” from Huntington Park after Thursday’s game.

Other “Clippings”…

* Shelley Duncan’s homer against the Yankees are Tuesday means that he has now homered against all 14 International league teams. Duncan played in the Yankees organization from 2001 to 2009. He played parts of three seasons with Scranton Wilkes-Barre and won the IL MVP Award in 2009.

* Jerad Head is now officially the Clippers “Captain Clutch” (sorry Jeter). He has played a pivotal role in seven of the Clippers 15 last at bats wins this year, including three of the last four. He’s scored the winning run twice and driven in the winning tally four times. He was also unconscious in the 2010 post-season, grabbing the MVP in the Triple-A National Championship.

* Jason Donald has multi-hit games in six of his last eight starts. He’s batting .519 during that stretch.

* First baseman Beau Mills was named the Eastern League Player of the Week and Indians Minor Leaguer of the Week. The 24-year-old has been stuck at Double-A for the last couple years, but may not be far away from his Clippers debut.

* Chad Huffman is 0 for his last 28. His batting average is down to .221.

* Nick Johnson continues to struggle. He’s sitting at .190 in 18 games with Columbus.

* Jeanmar Gomez has re-joined the Clippers. He’ll slot into the rotation in the next few days. Gomez, optioned back from Cleveland, allowed three homers and suffered the loss at Baltimore on Sunday. He was bumped by David Huff, who fired seven scoreless frames at Minnesota on Monday.

* Gomez will likely join Zach McAllister, Corey Kluber, Justin Germano, and Joe Martinez as the Clippers all right-handed rotation. Paolo Espino looks to be headed back to the bullpen despite his solid effort on Tuesday.

* Thursday’s business day special at Huntington Park will feature an appearance from Snoopy! Bring the kids for some afternoon baseball and enter for a chance to win four tickets to Cedar Point.

That’s all for now. See you at the park!