On Wednesday at Huntington Park, the Columbus Clippers led the game for a brief moment in the bottom of the third inning and then at the end of the game. The Clippers scored two runs in the home half of the ninth to grab the win, 5-4, from the visiting Louisville Bats.

Only one Clipper – Cody Huff – had more than one hit on the evening and none of Columbus’s hits went for extra bases. Collectively, the team had eight hits, four of them in the ninth inning. Christian Cairo’s single drove in the first run of the frame. Later, with two outs and the bases loaded, Will Wilson singled to drive in Milan Tolentino for the win.

The Bats scored all four of their runs in the first five innings against Clipper starter Will Messick. Four relievers – Mason Hickman, Parker Mushinski, Andrew Walter, and Luis Frías – each threw a scoreless inning after that. Frías (1-0) was perfect in the ninth, with two strikeouts, and picked up his first win of the season.

The Clippers (11-4) remain atop the International League West, two games ahead of the Iowa Cubs. Columbus and Louisville will play the third game of their six-game series Thursday at 12:05 p.m. at Huntington Park. Two lefties will be on the mound, Doug Nikhazy (1-0) for the Clippers and Drew Parrish (0-1) for the Bats.