Indians belt three homers against Talbot

Indians 7, Clippers 4

In spite of the beautiful July weather, it was an unpleasant day for the Clippers, who fell 7-4 to the Indianapolis Indians on Sunday before a crowd of 8,164 at Huntington Park.

A home run by the second batter of the game, Ke'bryan Hayes, and a three-run blast by Pablo Reyes in the fifth inning set the tone for the Indians, who won three of the four games in the series.

The Clippers still have a comfortable nine-game lead over the second place Indians in the International League West.

“(The home run in the first) didn’t affect us. I think the Reyes home run probably hurt us the most,”

Clippers manager Tony Mansolino said. “That’s a good team, a good lineup. I feel fortunate to be where we are in the standings against them, but we have a long way to go. They’re going to be chasing us down.”

Hayes'homer gave the Indians a 1-0lead, but the Clippers rallied in the bottom half as Ryan Flaherty hit a three-run homer toright fieldfor a 3-1 lead. The Indians scored oncein both the second and fourth innings to tie it at 3. Reyes’ homer and Will Craig's sacrifice fly gave the Indians a 7-3 lead in the fifth.

“They’re a good team,” Flaherty said. “They can hit, and this ballpark is not always pitcher-friendly. They took advantage of that.”

The Clippers used five pitchers, with starter Mitch Talbot(2-2)shouldering the majority of the loadwith fourinnings. He allowed five runs on seven hits — including three homers.he walked one and struck out three.

Mansolino praised the performance of his four relievers. Henry Martinez worked two innings, allowing two runs, and Phil Maton, Cam Hilland James Hoyt each pitched a scoreless inning.

“We competed well. Once Reyes hit the threerun homer, we took to the bullpen and they came in and did a really good job,” he said. “Overall, positive — the score just didn’t go in our favor.”’