Clippers Bounce Back to Beat Hens Saturday

COLUMBUS, OH - The Columbus Clippers picked themselves off the mat after a blowout loss Friday, beating the visiting Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Park, 5-3.

Third baseman Maick Collado, who continues to impress since his recent promotion from High Class-A, doubled in the 2nd inning on a wild play that ended with Dayan Frias crossing home plate thanks to an error.

That tied the game, and the next batter Juan Benjamin gave the Clippers a 2-1 edge with a RBI single.

Columbus trailed 3-2 in the 5th when Juan Brito deposited a solo shot over the left center field wall for his first homer of the season to tie things up again.

Frias scored again in the 6th, this time on a sac fly by Collado, and Columbus took a 4-3 lead. Then in the 7th, Kody Huff launched his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot that made it 5-3.

Left-fielder Nolan Jones made a huge defensive contribution in the top of the 8th, throwing out a runner at third base in time to end the inning just a split-second before Toledo would have scored.

Left-hander Will Dion (2-0) looked great in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out seven in 3.1 innings. Righty Franco Aleman picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless 9th.

With the win Saturday, Columbus evens its record at 16-16, while Toledo drops to 17-15.

The Clippers and Mud Hens play the series finale on Sunday at 1:05pm. Like every Sunday, it's Family Day at Huntington Park, with ticket packages to bring two adults and up to four kids for as low as $24! Don't forget the post-game Fun Run Around the Bases. And it's also SPACE DAY! Join OSU and NASA for an out of this world experience Sunday at the ballpark. Fans can purchase tickets at ClippersBaseball.com.

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