Hot Rods Hold Off Late TinCaps Rally in 6-5 Win

Fort Wayne, IN- Ford Proctor led the charge as the Bowling Green Hot Rods held on for a 6-5 Tuesday night win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the penultimate game of a four-game set at Parkview Field. The Hot Rods improve to 73-54 overall and 34-23 in the second half and begin a three-game series against the Lake County Captains on Wednesday with a 6:00 PM CDT first pitch.

The TinCaps scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first against Bowling Green starter Shane Baz. Ethan Skender led off the inning with a single to center and went to second on a wild pitch. Tucupita Marcano grounded out to second, allowing Skender to advance to third on the play. Michael Curry hit a ground ball to third baseman Osmy Gregorio, but the throw to first was errant and allowed Skender to scored, giving the TinCaps a 1-0 edge.
The Hot Rods rallied in the seventh against TinCaps reliever Dylan Coleman to take the lead. Nick Schnell led off with a single to right and Jordan Qsar worked a one-out walk. Grant Witherspoon bounced a ball back to Coleman on the mound, but he threw the ball into center field trying to turn a double play, allowing Witherspoon to reach, Qsar to go to third, and Schnell to score and tie the game. Chris Betts singled to right to give the Hot Rods a 2-1 lead with Qsar scoring and Seaver Whalen singled to right center, plating Witherspoon to make it a 3-1 Hot Rods lead. With two outs, Gregorio singled to load the bases and Proctor singled to right, scoring Betts and Whalen to give BG a 5-1 lead. With Gregorio on third, a wild pitch by reliever Henry Henry plated Gregorio to make it a 6-1 game.
The TinCaps scored again in the eighth to chase Hot Rods reliever Michael Costanzo from the game after Williams-Sutton walked to lead off the inning, Chris Givin singled to left to make it a 6-2 game. Nick Padilla entered out of the bullpen and got a ground ball to second off the bat of Skender to end the inning, keeping the Hot Rods in front 6-2.
In the ninth, the TinCaps plated three runs against Padilla on three hits, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk but the righty prevailed. With two outs, runners on first and second, and a full count, Padilla struck out Givin for the final out of the game, giving Bowling Green a 6-5 victory to close out the series.
Baz took a no-decision after allowing one unearned run over 5.0 innings with six hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Costanzo (1-2) picked up the win after tossing 2.2 innings while allowing one run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Padilla threw the final 1.1 innings while allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
 
Notes: Jonathan Aranda has a 12-game hitting streak… Gregorio extended his hit streak to three games… Witherspoon also had a hit in three-straight games… Ford Proctor had his team-leading 33^rd multi-hit game of the season… He also had his 10^th multi-RBI game of the year… Baz struck out seven for the third time this season… He's gone five-or-more innings in five-straight starts… Eight Hot Rods had hits… BG was 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position… The Hot Rods are 2-2 on this road trip… They close out the season series against the TinCaps with a record of 9-7… BG is 22-21 in one-run games… The team is 17-17 in games started by an opposing southpaw… BG is 20-12-6 in series this season… They're 22-32 when the opponent scores first… They won their 14^th game of the year when getting out-hit by their opponent… The Hot Rods begin a three-game series with the Lake County Captains on Wednesday at Classic Park in Eastlake, OH… Bowling Green has not named a starter while the Captains will send RH Alex Royalty to the mound… 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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