The Columbus Clippers took an early 3-0 lead at Indianapolis Sunday, but the Indians tied the score with three runs in the sixth inning. That stood until the top of the 12th when a Cooper Ingle sac fly brought in a run and that held up for a 4-3 Clippers victory in the series finale at Victory Field. Here are our three takeaways from Sunday’s contest:

1.    After Columbus starter Kolby Allard gave up three runs in the sixth, the Clippers turned to five relievers who blanked the Indians for the final 6.2 innings on just three hits while striking out six. In his one inning of work, Franco Aleman recorded all three outs with strikeouts, but hit a batter in the process. His ERA is now a miniscule 0.41 in 22 appearances, with 32 Ks in 22.0 innings pitched.

2.   The Clippers scored the winning run in the 12th inning with some small ball tactics, which we haven’t always seen from the team in extra frames. With Dayan Frias on second base to start the inning as the “magic” runner, Milan Tolentino, who hit a home run earlier in the game, led off the inning by bunting Frias to third. In the very next at-bat, Cooper Ingle knocked in Frias with a sacrifice fly. Perfect sequence.

3.   The Columbus offense has dropped precipitously as far as batting average is concerned. No one in the lineup Sunday was, and is now, hitting over .300. While pulling out a win to even the series at 3-3 against Indy Sunday, they managed only five hits in 12 innings, while striking out 14 times. The Clippers continue to average more than a strikeout each inning at the plate.