www.mlntherawfeed.com-COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout, while right fielder Trevor Crowe and designated hitter Wes Hodges each drove in three runs to lead the Columbus Clippers past the Indianapolis Indians 9-0 Thursday afternoon at Huntington Park.

With the loss the Indians fall to 40-46 on the season and 19-23 on the road, while the Clippers improve to 38-49 overall and 19-23 at home with the win. The victory for Columbus also gives them the 6-4 season series edge over Indianapolis and moves their record to 4-3 in games in played against the Tribe at Huntington Park this season.

Triple-A rookie Chuck Lofgren (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO) picked up the victory to improve to 3-5 on the season after striking out six and holding the Tribe to just two hits in his seven innings of work. Relievers Frank Hermann (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) and Masa Kobayashi (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) took over for Lofgren and completed the shutout as each allowed just one hit and struck out one in an inning of work out of the bullpen.
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The Clipper’s offense also provided Lofgren with a large early lead as they plated runs in each of the first four innings to jump ahead of the Tribe 8-0.Crowe and Hodges led the Columbus offensive attack all afternoon as the duo combined to go 6-for-9 with three runs and six RBI. The duo also had a hand in each of the Clippers five scoring rallies, beginning in the first where Hodges brought home Crowe with a run scoring single that gave Columbus the first lead of the game at 1-0.Crowe then plated two more runs with a run scoring single of his own in the second that brought home 2B Josh Barfield and C Damaso Espino, who led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Hodges then provided the run scoring blow in the third when launched his second home run of the season to deep left field to bring home 1B Matt LaPorta and give the Clippers a commanding 5-0 lead.

However, the Clippers’offense wasn’t finished as they piled on three more runs in the fourth on a two-run double by International League All-Star Andy Marte and a sacrifice fly by Barfield. LF Jordan Brown and LaPorta came plateward on Marte’s two-bagger, while Hodges trotted home on Barfield’s sac fly.

Finally, in the eighth Crowe capped the scoring with his third of the night, a single to center that brought home SS Niuman Romero and gave Columbus a 9-0 lead. Along with Crowe (3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI) and Hodges (3-for-4, 2 R ,3 RBI), Espino (2-for-4, 1 R) and Romero (2-for-3, 1 R) also collected multiple hits for the Clippers.

With his three hits Crowe extended his team-best hitting streak to 15 games during which time he is batting .344 (22-for-64) with nine runs and 11 RBI. This while Hodges collected three base knocks for the second consecutive game and Brown extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a base hit in the fourth.

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit, who is on rehab assignment with the Indians, turned in the Tribe’s only multi-hit performance as he collected two of the Tribe’s four hits for his first base knocks since he began his rehab back on July 3rd. Another bright spot for the Tribe was reliever Brian Slocum (3.0 IP, 3 SO), who in his first appearance since being activated from the disabled list on July 8, struck out three in three perfect innings of relief.

Indianapolis starter Jeremy Powell (4.0 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) suffered the loss to drop to 4-5 after allowing eight runs on 12 hits in just four innings of work.

Indianapolis begins their final series before the All-star Break at Toledo, where the series gets underway with a 7:00 p.m contest on Friday. RHP Ian Snell is scheduled to start for the Indians, while RHP Chris Lambert is expected to get the nod for the Mud Hens.

The contest will be carried by WXLW-950 AM andwww.IndyIndians.comwith Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 6:40 p.m.

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