Eric Hartman became the first Minor League player since 1995 to achieve a 25-home run, 50-stolen base season to help the Columbus Clingstones (29-27, 58-62) pull away from the Chattanooga Lookouts (19-37, 56-69) in a 7-3 win on Saturday night at Erlanger Park.
Decisive Plays: An infield single from Jordan Groshans put Columbus ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. An RBI single from John Gil in the second inning pushed the lead to 2-0. Columbus would add another run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Groshans to take a 3-0 lead. Luis Vargas punched out seven batters over 3.0 scoreless innings of relief from the fourth through the sixth to keep Colombus ahead. A three-run home run from Austin Hendrick tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning.
Columbus responded with a go-ahead RBI triple from Adam Zebrowski in the eighth inning to take a 4-3 advantage. Dalton McIntyre beat out a groundball for an RBI single to make it 5-3, and a wild pitch from Cody Adcock made it 6-3 after the eighth inning.
Leading off the ninth, Hartman hit a groundball to shortstop Carlos Sanchez and raced up the line, barely beating out the throw. He took off for second base on the very next pitch, easily recording his 50th stolen base of the season. He would later take third base for his 51st stolen base. Alex Lodise drove him in with an RBI single to make it 7-3.
Key Contributors: Lodise (4-for-5, 2B, RBI) recorded his first four-hit game in Double-A and drove in the final run of the game. Groshans (1-for-4, 2 RBI) and Zebrowski (1-for-5, 3B, RBI) added support at the plate while Hartman (1-for-5, 2 SB) made history with his stolen base in the ninth inning. On the mound, Vargas (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO) was dominant in relief. For Chattanooga, Hendrick (1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) briefly brought the Lookouts level with Columbus on his game-tying home run.
Notable: Hartman becomes the first Minor League player since Andruw Jones (25 HR/56 SB) to achieve a 25-home run, 50-stolen base season. A 25-50 season has been recorded only 15 times in Major League Baseball since 1901. Groshans extended his franchise-record hitting streak to 18 games.
Next Game (Sunday, August 30): Columbus at Chattanooga, 1:00 p.m. ET at Erlanger Park. LHP Julio Robaina (3-3, 3.42 ERA) will start for Columbus opposed by RHP Ryan Garcia (0-2, 6.56 ERA) for Chattanooga. Radio Broadcast: 12:45 p.m. ET on SportsVisions 92.1 FM. Stream: Bally Sports Live.
Next Home Game (Tuesday, September 1): Columbus vs. Pensacola, 7:06 p.m. ET at Synovus Park. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on SportsVisions 92.1 FM. Stream: Bally Sports Live.