The Clippers sit atop the IL West Division with a record of 11-7. It’s the best start in Columbus since 1999. Tonight the Clippers finish this seemingly never-ending series (five games) against Toledo. First pitch is 6:35pm and it’s a Dollar Deal Night!

* The Clippers Booster Club is taking a bus trip to Cleveland on Saturday, May 8th to see the Indians vs. Tigers. The trip includes a pre-game party at Progressive Field.

* Shelley Duncan was just 7-for-40 (.175) to start the season, but he’s 8 for his last 20 (.400). He still leads the league with 17 RBIs. Carlos Santana is second (16).

* Durham’s Dan Johnson leads the IL with 7 HRs, Santana is second with five.

* Jose Constanza’s .413 batting average tops the circuit. He is 18-for-42 (.429) against right-handers, but just 1-for-4 against lefties. Constanza was a switch-hitter unless about three seasons ago when he gave up hitting right-handed. I think it’s safe to say he won’t see very many at-bats against southpaws.

* Tuesday is the season debut of the Indians Minor League Magazine Show on SportsTime Ohio. Al Pawlowski and Jason Stanford with cover all the Tribe affiliates and the show will feature my recent chat with Clippers ace Carlos Carrasco.

* On Friday and Saturday, the Clippers beat Toledo. Those are the first back-to-back wins over the Mud Hens since 2008.

* Brian Buscher is out of the Clippers lineup for a couple days because of tightness in his back. Buscher was 1-for-20 during the road trip and he’s 2 for his last 31.

* Jason Donald and Trevor Crowe are both exactly 19-for-66 this season. Donald is second in the league in doubles (7), 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 9 walks and 5-for-6 in stolen bases. Crowe has two doubles, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 walks and he’s 4-for-4 on the bases. Donald and Crowe played together at the University of Arizona; Trevor is one year older (26).

* Jordan Brown (26) played at Arizona with Crowe and Donald. Shelley Duncan is also an Arizona Wildcat, but wasn’t a teammate, he’s older (30).

* Brian Bixler homered twice in the Clippers 7-1 win at Toledo Saturday. Bixler only hit 40 career homer runs, but has three multi-homer games. He has never hit more than nine in a season.

* Brian Horwitz was released to make room for Michael Brantley, leaving just two Brians on the roster (Buscher and Bixler). However, the Clippers still have two Carlos’ (Carrasco and Santana), two Hectors (Rondon and Ambriz) and three Michaels (Brantley, Gosling and Sarbaugh). FYI… Louisville leads the league in Chris’ with three (Burke, Heisey, Valaika).

* Hector Ambriz, the Indians Rule 5 selection, has pitched six scoreless innings for the Clippers this season. He is with Columbus on a Major League rehab assignment which can only last 30 days. Once that time period expires, the Indians will have to decide whether to put Ambriz on the big league roster, offer him back to Arizona for $25,000 or make a trade to keep him permanently.

* Saul Rivera still holds the title of Clipper closer, but has only recorded two saves so far this year. There have only been four save opportunities thus far with Jess Todd and Frank Herrmann scooping up the others.

* I went down to Mike Sarbaugh’s office in Toledo to record our pre-game radio interview and spotted the remote control to the television. It’s the largest remote I’ve ever seen. Try losing this thing in the sofa!

The Clippers put a wrap on the nine game road trip tonight in Toledo…

* Carlos Santana returned to the lineup last night, going 0-for-2 with 3 walks. He has now walked ten times in 14 games, one behind Shelley Duncan for the team lead. Santana has just one hit in his last ten at bats.

* Speaking of Shelley Duncan, he added 3 RBIs to his total last night. He’s tied with Toledo’s Brennan Boesch for the league lead with 17. Boesch was called up to Detroit.

* Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish said last night was the first time in his storied Toledo career that he’s been forced to bat the pitcher. Ryan Strieby (wrist) and Max Leon (foot) were on the roster, but hurt. Boesch was called up to the Tigers and no replacement had arrived by game time. Strieby was placed on the disabled list today and outfielder Deik Scram was added.

* The Toledo pitchers spot in the order was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

* Ruddy Lugo could be released from the hospital as early as today. He was hit in the head by Jason Donald’s line drive in the 1st inning of the game.

* Brian Buscher is 1-for-20 (.050) on the road trip and 2 for his last 31. After a three hit game on April11, his average has sunk from .636 to .214.

* The Clippers and Mud Hens will meet again Sunday from Huntington Park in the beginning of a ten game home stand. It’s a Bob Evans Family Fun Day; you won’t find a better value than that.

* Former NFL player turned ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth stopped by our broadcast booth Thursday night to chat. Schlereth’s son, Daniel, is a relief pitcher for the Mud Hens…

The Clippers (8-4) arrived in Indy last late night to begin a two-game set with the last place Indians (4-8). First pitch tonight is 7:00pm with Hector Rondon facing lefty Donnie Veal.

* Louisville’s Sam LeCure fired eight innings of two-hit shutout baseball last night to beat the Clippers. The Clippers scored twice in the ninth against reliever Jon Adkins. The two runs scored are the fewest this season by the Columbus lineup.

* The Clippers are batting .293, tops in the league. The team ERA is 4.15, ranking 10th (of 14 teams).

* Indians Prospect Insider as an in-depth look at the Clippers starting rotation.

* Carlos Carrasco suffered his first loss last night in Louisville and a throwing error cost him for the second consecutive start. In the 5th inning of a scoreless game, Carrasco tried to throw out Corky Miller at second base, on a tapper back to the mound from Chris Burke. Carrasco’s throw was off the mark and both runners were safe. Chris Heisey then blasted a three-run homer to left field to put Louisville ahead for good.

* Michael Brantley met the team this morning in Indianapolis. He is expected to be in tonight’s lineup. Brantley, 22, batted just .156 (5-for-32) in nine games with Cleveland. He won the starting left fielders job in spring camp, but with Russell Branyan returning from the disabled list, Matt LaPorta will inherit left.

* Brian Horwitz was given his outright release to make room for Brantley. Horwitz, acquired in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, was 4-for-15 (.267) with two RBIs in six games.

* Jerad Head was transferred to Double-A Akron today. He has been on the Clippers disabled list since Opening Day.

* Here is today’s Indians Minor League Report

* In case you missed it, the Clippers will be broadcast on MLB Network June 15 vs. Norfolk.

* Brian Bixler started last night’s game in left field, his first outfield appearance this season. Bixler, acquired from Pittsburgh in an off-season trade, made his first big league outfield appearance in center last September, but also made 15 starts in center field with Indianapolis.

* Chris Gimenez made his 2010 debut at first base because Wes Hodges was unavailable after fouling a ball off his ankle during Sunday’s double-header. Gimenez started 24 games at catcher, 11 in left field and 3 at first base last season in Triple-A. He was called up to the Indians on May 31 and appeared in 18 games at first base (13 starts), 14 in left field (9 starts), 7 in right field (4 starts) and 8 as catcher (6 starts).

* By the way, Hodges (ankle) is considered day-to-day and could have played last night according to Mike Sarbaugh.

* Our friend Tony Lastoria was at Huntington Park last week and wrote a good story about Wes Hodges moving to first base.

* Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for Clippers in-game updates, roster moves, and more!

* Lastly, Happy Birthday to Clippers Merchandise Director Krista Oberlander and Louisville Bats broadcaster Matt Andrews. Stop in the Clippers Cargo Shop at Huntington Park and say hello to Krista sometime this season. You can say hello at Matt here…

The Clippers have made themselves right at home in Louisville, taking the first three games of the series with the Bats. Mike Sarbaugh’s guys will go for the sweep tonight…

* Winners in 7 of the last 8 games, the Clippers are now 8-3, which is tied with Durham for the best record in the International League.

* The Clippers are now 5-0 against the Bats this season after going 6-15 last year.

* Carlos Santana’s four homers are tied for the best in the league with four others, but he hasn’t gone deep since last Sunday (4/11). All four HRs came against Indianapolis in the season opening series.

* Santana also leads the league in slugging (.833) and RBIs with 14, one ahead of Toledo’s Brennan Boesch. He is second in total bases (30) behind Indy’s Steve Pearce (31).

* Jose Constanza was 4-for-6 with a walk in the two games Sunday, moving his on-base percentage to .500, tops in the IL.

* Constanza (.483) and Santana (.417) are first and second in the league in batting. Last season Jordan Brown hit .336 (.372 after the All-Star break) and won the batting title. Brown ranks second in Clippers single-season history behind Fernando Seguignol (.341 in 2003).

* The Clippers have scored 17 runs in the 7th inning this season, which accounted for 28% of the team’s total runs prior to Sunday’s games.

* I’m attempting to post game recaps each night, like the one you see in the post below. I don’t have enough time to do full report and notes after each broadcast, but hopefully I can post our post-game interviews to add a bit more to the blog.

* Here is
Mike Sarbaugh after Sunday’s double-header sweep.

* We talked with Jason Donald
Jason Donald after the Clippers took game #1, 6-4.

* Last but certainly not least; Prior to the second game on Sunday, this Tyrannosaurus Rex threw out a ceremonial first pitch. If you ’re truly honest with yourself, it’s impossible not to love a baseball-hurling dinosaur. Enjoy!

The Clippers have won three straight for the first time since mid July of last year. Last night Chris Gimenez blasted a walk-off homer (Ryan Mitchell’s call from the radio broadcast) to the lawn seating area in left center field to lift the Clippers to a 4-3 win.

* Chris Gimenez took Indianapolis starter Kevin Hart deep in his first at-bat of 2010, but was 0-for-11 since then… until the 10th inning last night.

* Last night’s game was broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio, so Gimenez received a healthy dose of shaving cream pie in the face during our post-game interview. It was caught on camera.

* Gimenez will be a guest on Bruce Drennan’s “All Bets Are Off” at 3:30pm today. I’m sure the pie incident will be discussed.

* Trevor Crowe had a nice game Wednesday, going 3-for-5 and raising his average to .333.

* Carlos Santana was 0-for-3, but walked twice and stole a base. He has 22 steals in career 475 games.

* Carlos Carrasco pitched well enough to win, but his own two-run throwing error put Louisville ahead 3-2 before his was pulled (6.2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 K). The five walks are a bit alarming and I’ll ask Charlie Nagy about that on tonight’s broadcast. 

* Last night was Rally Towel Night at Huntington Park and they were put to good use. The Clippers had to come from behind twice to win. Columbus has trailed in all four wins this season and therefore has trailed in every game.

* Last night’s Sugardale Hot Dog Race was featured on ESPN Sportscenter’s “Top Plays”. It was #9.

* For those of you asking about a new voice you heard on the Clippers radio broadcast last night, it was Bob McElligott filling in while I was doing television. McElligott spent the last decade in the International League as the voice of the Syracuse Chiefs. He joined the Columbus Blue Jackets this season after calling hockey games for the Jackets minor league affiliate in Syracuse.

* The next live broadcast on SportsTime Ohio is Thursday, April 29th vs. Charlotte.

* The Clippers did not face Cuban sensation Aroldis Chapman during the brief two-game series with Louisville, but they will face him on Friday night at Louisville’s Slugger Field. Chapman (through a translator) and Bats manager Rick Sweet held a press conference in Columbus on Monday to discuss his first Triple-A start (4.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 9 K, 1 BB vs. Toledo). Chapman signed a six-year, $30 million deal with Cincinnati this winter.

* If you’re scoring at home, Rick Sweet’s mustache is just that… sweet. I couldn’t find a picture of it, but I’d say it’s every bit as impressive as the one he had as a player:

I’ll have more goodies (plus lineups) later.

The Clippers lost a 14-12 slugfest last night to Indianapolis. The same teams square off tonight at 7:05pm. The Bucket Boys are in town!

* The nine home runs hit in last night’s game are the most in Huntington Park history. The Clippers had five (Duncan, Constanza, Buscher, Santana, Crowe) and Indy finished four (Kratz, Van Every and Alvarez twice).

* Jose Constanza’s 2nd inning solo shot was his 7th career homer in 2,923 plate appearances. Right after a refered to Constanza as a “slap hitter”, he homered.

* The 29 runs scored by the Clippers in the first two games are, as you might expect, the most in the minors. The Clippers also have 34 hits and 9 HRs.

* Carlos Santana is 6-for-10 with 3 HRs, 7 RBIs and 17 total bases. Not a bad start…

* Russell Branyan is expected to play five innings at first base tonight. Branyan, rehabbing a herniated disc in his back, was 3-for-3 with a walk on Thursday. He played into the sixth inning that night and took yesterday off. Once Branyan shows he can play a full nine innings on consecutive days, he’ll be headed to Cleveland.

* Chris Gimenez homered in his first at-bat of the season, but is 0-for-6 since. He started last season 0-for-21.

* Last night’s game was played in nifty three hours and fifty-two minutes. The longest 9-inning game in Huntington Park history.

* Brian Buscher’s solo bomb in the 3rd inning last night is believed to be the longest homer hit at Huntington Park. It cleared the batters eye in center and was last seen somewhere over Nationwide Blvd.

* Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed the radio broadcast during the first two nights. We’ve had more e-mails than we can read on the air, but keep sending them to radio@clippersbaseball.com

* I’ll be updating my Facebook and Twitter pages with more as we get closer to tonight’s first pitch. 

I’ll be back with lineups.

The opening night at Huntington Park could not have been better for the Hometown Heroes… a 17-4 blistering of Indianapolis…

* The 17 runs and 19 hits are the most in Opening Day history for the Clippers

* The Clippers 12-for-22 with runners in scoring position

* 19 hits, every starter had at least one hit and one run scored

* Carlos Santana, celebrating his 24th brithday, went 4-for-5 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. Santana was 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs on Opening Day last year with Akron. He went on the win the Eastern League MVP.

* Here are the International League “News & Notes” for this week.

* Russell Branyan started his Major League rehab assignment last night, going 3-for-3 with 1 RBI and a walk. He is expected to sit out tonight’s game and play five innings at first base on Saturday.

* Columnist Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch writes “Promise of better season apparent on opening day”

* Breakin’ B-Boy McCoy will perform at Huntington Park tonight. I’m pretty sure this is how I look when I dance.