The Columbus Clippers came up just short as they rallied with four runs in the final two innings of their game against the Iowa Cubs at Huntington Park Sunday. The contest ended with the I-Cubs on top 7-6. Here are our three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

1.    Columbus catcher Kody Huff hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, his fifth long ball of the season, that got the Clippers to within two runs, 7-5. He actually hit the ball harder in three at-bats that ended in outs. His home run, which traveled 358 feet, exited off the bat at 100.2 mph. His groundout to end the fourth was 101.7 and he ended the sixth with a 102.5 mph grounder. To end the game, with runners at first and second, his line shot to third base was caught going a whopping 107.7 mph.

2.   The two baserunners that scored ahead of Huff when he went yard in the eighth, Stuart Fairchild and Kahlil Watson, were both hit by a pitch from Iowa reliever Collin Snider. Snider hit Dayan Frias later in the inning. It was right-hander’s slurve that got two of the Clippers on the back foot as they tried to back away. Should he have relied on his fastball? That’s what Huff hit over the wall.

3.   The Clippers are now 10-10 on the season. They have one game left with Iowa in the series, a Sunday contest beginning at 1:05 p.m. at Huntington Park. After the I-Cubs won going away, 8-1, in the opener Tuesday, the next four games have been competitive until the final out with each team winning two. What were summer-like temperatures early in the week have turned to April climes with highs expected in the lower 50s Sunday and mostly sunny skies.