Cardenas Sinks Captains in 3-2 Comeback Win

Eastlake, OH- Ruben Cardenas came up with three RBIs for the second-straight night in a ninth-inning rally to help the Bowling Green Hot Rods to a 3-2 victory over the Lake County Captains on Friday night in the finale of a three-game series while also securing the team's fifth-straight win. The Hot Rods improve to 76-54 overall and 37-23 in the second half with the first game of a four-game series against the South Bend Cubs set for Saturday evening at 6:35 PM.

The Hot Rods took a one-run lead in the third against Captains starter Matt Turner with some clutch two-out hitting. Grant Witherspoon lined a one-out single to right and went to second when Jonathan Aranda singled to left with two outs. Ruben Cardenas singled to left, scoring Witherspoon to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 advantage.
Lake County took the lead in the fourth with Alan Strong on the mound for Bowling Green. Raynel Delgado led off with a single and Clark Scolamiero singled to right, moving Delgado to third. Daniel Schneemann's sacrifice fly tied the game with Delgado scoring to knot it up at 1-1. Scolamiero stole second and went to third on Ulysses Cantu's single before Quentin Holmes lifted a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Scolamiero to give the Captains a 2-1 lead.
Bowling Green came back in the ninth to grab the lead in the top of the ninth against Captains lefty reliever Jake Miednik. Roberto Alvarez singled to lead off the inning and with two outs Osmy Gregorio sliced his third hit of the game to left, moving Alvarez up a base. Aranda walked in a full count to load the bases and Cardenas singled to center field on the third pitch of his at-bat, plating Alvarez and Gregorio to give the Hot Rods a 3-2 lead. Hector Figueroa returned to the mound in the ninth and sat the Captains down 1-2-3 to preserve a 3-2 victory, Bowling Green's fifth-straight win.
Strong allowed two runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts over his six innings of work in a no-decision. Figueroa (1-1) held the Captains to a hit and a walk with three strikeouts over three scoreless innings in a win.
Notes: Aranda extended his hit streak to 15 games… That ties Gregorio for the longest streak by a BG hitter this season… Cardenas had back-to-back three RBI games to close out the series… it was his eighth three-RBI game this season… He has 21 multi-RBI games this year…Cardenas had his 27^th multi-hit game of the 2019 season as well… Ostberg has a four-game hitting streak… Witherspoon had his 29^th multi-hit game of the year… Gregorio had his 21^st multi-hit game of the year… Gregorio tied a career-high with three hits… It's his 21^st multi-hit game of the season and seventh three-hit effort… The Hot Rods are 14-8 in the month of August… They're 9-8 against Lake County with three games left to play in the season series… BG is 24-21 in one-run games this season… They're 18-17 in games started by an opposing lefty… BG is 21-12-6 in series this season… BG has won 53 games in which they have scored first this year… They're also 51-8 when outhitting their opponent… The Hot Rods begin a four-game set with the South Bend Cubs at Bowling Green Ballpark with a 6:35 PM first pitch on a Funtastic Saturday… It's Stranger Things night at the ballpark… The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free hat (Dustin's Hat) presented by Ashley Homestore… There will be a post-game fireworks display following the game presented by Norton Children's Hospital… Bowling Green will send RH Easton McGee (7-5, 3.70) to the mound against Cubs RH Cam Sanders (7-4, 2.97)… Fans can catch all the action with Shawn Murnin on Willie 107.9 FM and the Hot Rods Radio Network on the TuneIn Radio and MiLB First Pitch apps, available for smartphones.
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Hot Rods Baseball