The Columbus Clippers never had a lead in their series finale against the Scaranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Sunday at Huntington Park. They did, however, come very close both times that SWB established a lead, including a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to fall just short 5-4. Here are our three takeaways from Sunday’s contest:

1.    The Clippers showed some resolve Sunday, leveling the score at 2-2 after two innings against the RailRiders and then scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth down 5-2. They actually had the tying run at third base and one out in that frame, but two strikeouts ended the game. Not to keep beating the drum on this, but they struck out 11 times in the contest compared to five hits. Tough ratio to consistently win.

2.   Columbus reliever Trevor Stephan took the hill for the second time for the Clippers and faced the minimum number of batters in his one inning of work, striking out one. We’ve talked before about the circuitous route that the veteran has taken to work his way back to the Big Leagues. He used three different pitches in retiring the three RailRiders he faced: a four-seam fastball, a splitter, and a slider. The beat goes on.

3.   Angel Genao was at shortstop for Columbus Sunday and he continues to grow as a hitter. He went deep for the fifth time in  a Clippers’ jersey this season. He also walked, was hit by a pitch, knocked in two runs, and scored twice. In 40 games with Columbus now, he is hitting .252 with 21 RBIs.