Leo: What’s on the agenda?

Team meeting…

The Clippers have lost eight of the last ten games and continue to struggle offensively. Mike Sarbaugh held a closed-door team meeting after Thursday’s 6-5 loss in Syracuse.

Getting a quick exit…

Sarbaugh and Shelley Duncan were both ejected form Friday’s game in the first inning after Duncan disputed a called third strike from umpire Kelvin Bultron. The Clippers dropped that game 3-0.

It’s been an “interesting” few days for umpires in Clippers games

The home run (that wasn’t, maybe, I think)…

Duncan crushed a ball down the left field line on Thursday that seemed to slice left of the foul pole. Plate umpire Fran Burke called it a foul ball, but after being questioned by Sarbaugh, he asked his fellow umpires for their opnions and the call was overturned. That led to the ejection of Chiefs pitcher Tom Milone and manager Randy Knorr. Knorr put on an animated demonstration after being tossed. He took two baseballs, one of which he threw into foul territory and one over the wall in fair play. I think it’s safe to say Knorr made his point on the difference between a homer and a foul ball.

Fair Pole or Foul Pole

Tonight the Clippers open a four-game set against Norfolk at 7:05pm.

* The Tides were scheduled to pitch Chris Tillman, but he’s been summoned to Baltimore to face the Yankees as part of a doubleheader today. Instead, lefty Chris George will face Corey Kluber.

* The Clippers are now batting just .215 in the month of July, carrying a record of 10-16.

* On the flip side, the pitching staff has improved its’ ERA to 3.40 for the month.

* Former Clippers speedster Jose Constanza was called up to the majors with Atlanta. He was 1-for-4 with one RBi in his debut.

* Clippers historian Joe Santry has compiled a list of every no-hitter in Columbus baseball history:

Cannonball Morris *  May 29, 1884        Pittsburgh        5-0
Frank Mountain *     June 5, 1884        Washington       10-0
Hank Gastright *&    October 12, 1890    Toledo            6-0
Bumpus Jones        June 5, 1898        Kansas City       3-2
George Upps         August 18, 1908     Kansas City       3-0
Dixie Davis         July 2, 1913        Indianapolis      4-0
King Cole           July 15, 1913       Milwaukee         3-1
Marty O’Toole       July 2, 1915        Cleveland         2-1
Bob Clark           June 18, 1921       Louisville        3-0
Paul Dean           August 30, 1932     Kansas City       3-0
Pete Mazar          June 3, 1945        Kansas City       4-0
Dick Hoover +        August 14, 1955     Richmond         10-0
Rod Scurry +         July 25, 1977 (G2)  Richmond          2-0
Scott Nielsen       June 8, 1988        Maine             3-0
Kevin Mmahat        July 5, 1991        Louisville        6-0
Mariano Rivera #     June 26, 1995 (G2)  Rochester         3-0
Adrian Hernandez-Kevin Lovinger-Bob Scanlon June 10, 2002       Indianapolis     15-1
Justin Germano @      July 26, 2011       Syracuse          3-0

 @ Perfect Game
* Major League no-hitter
+ Seven inning game
& Eight inning game
# Five inning game

* Justin Germano’s perfect game on Tuesday is the first in Columbus history.

* The Cleveland Indians acquired Kosuke Fukudome from the Cubs this week and one Clippers player was involved in the trade. Right-hander reliever Carlton Smith has reported to the Cubs Triple-A team in Iowa. Smith was 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 34 games this year.

* Ted Dibiase “The Million Dollar Man” will be at Huntington Park tonight. It’s fitting that he’s appearing one day before the trading deadline because his famous slogn is “Everybody’s got a price”.