INDIANAPOLIS - Bubba Bell received the last invitation to the party for the Clippers this season.
Acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on March 31, the six-year minor-league veteran arrived in Huntington Park the day after an exhibition game with the parent Cleveland Indians had been snowed out.
"I walked to the home field for practice and it started to flurry again," Bell said. "I was like, 'Oh, my gosh.' It's not what you want to deal with the first couple of weeks of the season. Even if you square a ball up, it hurts your hands."
Fortunately, weather of a sunnier kind greeted his debut in the Clippers lineup yesterday in Victory Field. Bell counted two doubles among his four hits and helped the Clippers to a 7-5 win and a four-game series sweep of the Indianapolis Indians.
"It's great that the weather has been as nice as it has," said Bell, who started in right field.
The cash transaction that ended his six-year association with Boston did not come as a surprise.
"They told me coming into spring training that they wanted to try and get me into a better situation because they knew how road-blocked I was," said Bell, 28. "They told me they thought I deserved a shot somewhere. I'm happy to be here."
In winning their first four games of the season for the first time since 1980, the Clippers continued to hit the ball into the gaps and over the walls of spacious Victory Field.
Second baseman Cord Phelps did most of the damage with a pair of home runs. He drove a solo shot over the center-field wall in the fourth inning and added a three-run blast to right in the fifth.
Phelps, not known as a home-run hitter, is 8 for 17 to start the season and leads the team with seven RBI.
"It's obviously nice to hit two in a game," he said. "But as far as power goes, I guess I wouldn't characterize myself as a home-run hitter. But I'm definitely able to hit it out of the yard, just maybe not as often as some of the other guys can."
Zach McAllister (1-0) pitched the first five innings for the Clippers to earn the win. Zach Putnam worked the eighth and ninth to pick up his first triple-A save.
The team's mix of veterans and rising prospects is giving manager Mike Sarbaugh a lot of choices in making out the lineup.
"It's nice to have some versatility with (Bell) and Jerad Head," Sarbaugh said. "They both can play all three outfield positions. Jerad can play some infield, too. But to have some offensive thump off the bench is nice.
"Early on, it's always hard to get guys all the playing time that they want. But it will all play itself out. It was a good first game for Bubba, for sure. He's a tough out."
The Clippers open a two-game series tonight in Louisville against the Bats.
jmassie@dispatch.com