Five-Run Eighth Inning Leads Hot Rods to 6-5 Win

Asheville, North Carolina – Hunter Haas, Ryan Spikes, and Xavier Isaac all blasted home runs in a five-run eighth inning for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-25) in a nail-biting 6-5 win over the Asheville Tourists (23-29) at McCormick Field on Thursday.

Bowling Green broke onto the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning against Asheville starter Jose Guedez. With two outs in the inning, Spikes doubled to put himself in scoring position. Cooper Kinney singled to right, bringing home Spikes for a 1-0 advantage.

Neither team would score again until the bottom of the seventh, where the Tourists plated four against the Hot Rods bullpen. Luis Encarnacion worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on an Anthony Sherwin single. Brice Matthews lined a base hit to right, scoring Encarnacion to tie the game 1-1. After a Matthews steal, Luis Baez singled to right, scoring Sherwin and Matthews to make it a 3-1 Asheville lead. Logan Cerny added the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, giving the Tourists a 4-1 advantage.

The Hot Rods responded with five runs in the top of the eighth inning against Tourists reliever Manuel Urias. Haas led off with a solo homer to left, making it 4-2. One out later, Jhon Diaz walked and came home to score on a Spikes game-tying, two-run blast. Kinney followed with a double, and Isaac hit the third home run of the inning, handing Bowling Green a 6-4 lead.

Asheville gained one run back in the bottom of the eighth on an Encarnacion solo home run, bringing the lead down to 6-5 for Bowling Green. Jonny Cuevas entered in the bottom of the ninth and logged three strikeouts, locking down a 6-5 win for the Hot Rods.

Jack Hartman (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, tossing 1.2 innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits, walking one and striking out three. Urias (0-7) tossed 3.2 innings of relief, surrendering five runs on five hits, walking two and striking out four in his seventh loss of the year. Cuevas (4) hurled 1.0 scoreless inning, striking out three and walking one for his fourth save of the campaign.

The Hot Rods and Tourists play the fourth game of a six-game series at 5:35 PM CT on Friday at McCormick Field. Bowling Green will send out RHP Roel Garcia III (4-2, 4.76) to the mound against Asheville RHP Nic Swanson (1-3, 5.85).

Fans can catch all the action by watching on MiLB.tv, listening through the MiLB First Pitch App and BGHotRods.com. Fans can also secure their seats for future home Hot Rods games by calling (270) 901-2121, visiting the Bowling Green Ballpark box office during normal business hours, or going to www.bghotrods.com.

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Hot Rods Baseball