SYRACUSE, N.Y. – George Valera hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the seventh inning and Jose Tena hit two home runs, knocked in a run and scored another as the Clippers beat the Syracuse Mets 9-4 Saturday night at NBT Bank Stadium.
After taking an early 3-1 lead on Tena’s homers and one from Johnathan Rodríguez, Columbus fell behind when the Mets scored three runs in the fifth, but came back to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth on Tena’s RBI single.
Valera put the Clippers in front to stay with a leadoff home run off Eric Orze (2-4).
In the eighth, Tena scored again on a wild pitch, Valera added a two-run homer and Micah Pries came home on another wild pitch.
Amir Garrett (1-1) took over for starter Zach Plesac and picked up the last two outs in the sixth with a runner in scoring position to keep the score tied and earn the win.