COLUMBUS, OHIO — Veteran righthander Chi Chi Gonzalez of the St. Paul Saints held Columbus to no hits in the first six innings but the bullpen struggled and the visitors lost 6-5 in 12 innings to the Clippers on Wednesday night in International League West baseball.
Shut out for eight innings, Columbus scored four times in the ninth to tie the score and got a walkoff win in the 12th on Alex Call's RBI single.
The Saints took the lead in the 10th on Cole Sturgeon's run-scoring double, but again Columbus tied it.
Gonzalez was lifted after the sixth — he threw 88 pitches, 57 for strikes. He had seven strikeouts and four walks.
The one-time first round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2013 was 2-1 with a 4.87 ERA going into this game.
Ian Hamilton relieved the 6-3, 210-pound Gonzalez and Bryan Lavastida got the Clippers first hit off Hamilton with one out in the seventh on a line drive single to center.
The Saints scored their first run in the sixth. Elliott Soto doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Curtis Terry's single.
They built the lead to 4-0 with three runs in the ninth inning, scoring on a fielder's choice, and RBI singles from Caleb Hamilton and David Banuelos.
