Opening Day, or really Opening Night, was one of those nights when being a pitcher probably isn’t very much fun. On a cold, cloudy, windy night in Columbus though, it wasn’t the weather that made life miserable for the Indianapolis Indians pitchers. Instead, it was the Columbus offense that punished the Pirates’ affiliates all night long on their way to a 17-4 Opening Night victory.
Carlos Carrasco got the opening day start for the Clippers, and had an overall uneven night. He came out on fire, though, placing his low to mid 90s fastball and showing good control with his offspeed stuff early. He gave up a double off the wall to the 2nd batter he faced, but other than that he struck out the side to open up the season. Nothing much changed for Carrasco in the 2nd inning as he got a quick popup to the shortstop, a ground out to the shortstop, and then another strike out to finish off the inning.
It was the Clippers who struck first in the bottom of the 2nd when Chris Giminez hit a 2 run HR to give Columbus a 2-0 lead. With Carrasco dealing on the mound, a 2-0 lead looked like it would be safe for a while, but in the top of the 3rd the screws came off a bit for Carrasco. He hit the first batter with a pitch and followed that up with a double and a HR that sailed out of the park over the Wendys Party Deck in right field to give the lead right back to the Indians at 3-2.
That was the last of the damage Carrasco would give up, though, as he recovered for the most part for the rest of his outing. Carrasco’s final line for the night was 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K, 1 BB for a 4.76 ERA. It certainly wasn’t the best Carrasco has looked in AAA, but on a cold night with 18 mph wind driving the ball over the fences, Carrasco did an excellent job of limiting the damage and keeping the ball in places where the hitters couldn’t drive the ball to the outfield.
The hero of the night for the Clippers was none other than prized prospect Carlos Santana. The catcher was celebrating his birthday, and he celebrated it in style. After Carrasco hit the same guy with pitches in back to back innings, Santana came up to lead off the bottom of the 4th. Indianapolis starter Kevin Hart threw a pitch behind Santana’s back which led to some rising tensions and the home plate ump quickly ejected Hart. The Indians brought in Jeremy Powell, and Santana proceeded to take out his frustration on him by jacking a HR off the top of the center field scoreboard. The next batter was Wes Hodges who followed suit with a HR of his own to give the Clippers the 4-3 lead, a lead they would never give back as they would score runs in every inning for the remainder of the game.
All night long Santana was a monster at the plate, an imposing figure with a perfectly balanced swing. He later added his 2nd HR of the night and finished 4-5 with 2 HRs, a double, and 4 RBI before being pinch hit for in the 8th. If this was a true indicator of his potential, his time in Columbus may be shorter lived than initially anticipated as he truly had the look of a major league hitter playing in the minors.
The other Clipper who looked impressive was Russell Branyan who was making a rehab stint before heading up to Cleveland. Branyan showed remarkable patience at the plate (not exactly the hallmark of his career) and like Santana, just made good solid contact with the ball every time he swung. He ended up 3-3 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. After his double in the 6th inning, he was taken out for a pinch runner, ending his night early. It’s hard to tell if it was just bad pitching on the Indians’ part or if Branyan is a slightly different hitter than the guy we remember from his previous stint with Cleveland, but on this night Branyan looked like a hitter that could make an impact for the big league Indians.
The Clippers picked up 8 runs in the 7th inning to blow the game wide open. The victim of that inning turned out to be none other than former Tribe pitcher Vinnie “The Incredible” Chulk. After signing a minor league contract with the Pirates organization this offseason, he had the unfortunate duty of facing his old team in his first game. It was unfortunate because not only did he give up the HR to Santana, but he only managed to get one guy out before giving up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 8 runs (all of them earned) in the inning before mercifully being pulled. He walked off the mound with a 216.00 ERA for the night.
This may not have been the greatest Opening Night from an aesthetic standpoint. It was cold and grey, the ballpark was barely half full, and the pomp and circumstance of the Opening Ceremonies were mostly lacking in excitement. The product on the field, on the other hand, was thrilling and exciting to watch. The biggest draw of the Clippers this season was getting to see Carlos Santana, and if this night was any indication, we can all expect big things in the future out of him.
