Clip & Dirty: 6/15

The Clippers won their 40th game of the season behind a truly dominant team performance. Jeanmar Gomez went seven scoreless, Carlton Smith closed things out with little fanfare after that and the Clippers offense scored 11 runs on 18 hits. The win put Columbus 2.5 games ahead of Toledo in the IL-West and in a virtual tie with Durham for the best record in the IL overall.

Team Pitching: 0(0) R(ER), 4H, 0BB, 7K, 63% strikes, 109 pitches total

Jeanmar Gomez had his best outing since his perfect game last season. He went 7 innings, gave up only 3 hits, didnt walk a single batter and struck out six. He needed only 93 pitches to get through his 7 innings of work and maintained a 50% GB rate throughout the game. A game like this really makes you wish that pitch f/x was present at minor league stadiums because it would be great to get a read on what pitches were inducing so many outs and such poor contact.

This outing can be considered nothing but a surprise seeing as Gomez had been hit around to the tune of a 7.69 FIP over his two June starts and a 5.66 FIP overall on the 2010 season.

Team Hitting: 11R, 18H, 4XBH, 3BB, HBP

Every player had at least one hit and at least an RBI or run scored. Seven of the nine players to hit for the Clippers had a multi-hit game. Michael Brantley, Josh Rodriguez, Jared Goedert and Jose Constanza each scored twice. Rodriguez and Goedert also registered a pair of RBI's as well. The Clippers ran through 5 Norfolk pitchers and scored multiple runs in 4 different innings with the final salvo being the largest as they put up a five-spot in the 8th thank to a three-run homer by Chris Gimenez.

The offensive stars (if forced to pick some out of this across-the-board offensive onslaught) were Rodriguez (2-5, HR, 2RBI, 2R) and Goedert (3-5, HR, 2RBI, 2R). The Clippers will face off against the Pawtucket Red Sox on Thursday. Yohan Pino will look for his 7th win and the Clippers will look to continue their excellent season.