Hot Rods Rally for 4-2 Win to Secure Sweep of TinCaps

The Bowling Green Hot Rods scored three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to rally from a two-run deficit and defeat the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-2 on Friday night, securing a three-game sweep of the series. The Hot Rods return to Bowling Green Ballpark on Saturday night against the Lake County Captains as they open the series with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.

Fort Wayne struck early on against Bowling Green starter Shane Baz. In the first, Baz walked Jawuan Harris with one out, then surrendered an RBI double to Dwanya Williams-Sutton, giving the TinCaps an early advantage. An inning later, Fort Wayne doubled the lead as Lee Solomon drove in Justin Lopez with a two-out single, staking the TinCaps to a 2-0 lead.
 
From there, the offense dried up as Baz settled down, finishing 6.0 innings for the first time in his career. On the other side, Bowling Green struggled to generate any offense against Fort Wayne starter Omar Cruz.
In the sixth, Osmy Gregorio and Jonathan Aranda both drew one-out walks against Cruz, chasing him from the game. Henry Henry, though, emerged from the bullpen and retired the next two hitters, preserving the TinCaps' 2-0 advantage.
After a scoreless seventh from Zach Trageton, the Hot Rods finally broke through against Henry. With one out, Tony Pena, Russ Olive, and Izzy Wilson strung together singles, with Wilson's hit bringing home Pena for the first Bowling Green run of the game. Following a strikeout, Gregorio rolled a two-run double up the right-field line, scoring Olive and Wilson to give Bowling Green a 3-2 lead.
The Hot Rods tacked on another run against Cody Tyler in the eighth. After Roberto Alvarez reached on an infield single, Jordan Qsar ripped a triple into the right-field corner to bring home Alvarez for a key insurance run.
Trageton finished his Hot Rods debut with a scoreless eighth, handing over a lead to Michael Costanzo, who tossed a spotless ninth inning, nailing down a 4-2 win, as well as the sweep over the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Baz went 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out six in a no-decision. Zach Trageton (1-0) fired two scoreless innings in his Hot Rods debut, allowing one hit, walking one and striking out two to earn the win. Costanzo threw a scoreless ninth, striking out one and earning his second save.
Notes: This is Bowling Green's seventh series sweep of the season, six of which have been at home…Aranda has a four-game hitting streak…Erik Ostberg had his four-game hitting streak snapped...Gregorio collected his eighth multi-RBI game…Alvarez recorded his 24th multi-hit game...Baz threw a career-high 6.0 innings…He earned the first quality start of his career…Trageton had a streak of 59.1 consecutive innings without a walk (dating to August 13, 2018) snapped…Bowling Green won for just the fourth time this season (second this series) when trailing after six innings…The Hot Rods are 36-17 at home…BG has won six straight games at home…They're 13-12 against left-handed starters…BG is 8-3 when notching the same number of hits as the opponent…The Hot Rods will open a three-game series against the Lake County Captains on Saturday night, with first pitch at 6:35 p.m.…RHP Alan Strong (7-4, 3.06) will start for Bowling Green against Lake County LHP Zach Draper (6-2, 2.42)…Tomorrow is Margaritaville Night, featuring a Hot Rods beach towel giveaway to the first 500 fans…Saturday will also feature an appearance from Zooperstars…Fans can catch all the action with Shawn Murnin on Willie 107.9 FM, as well as, with their smart phones via the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn Radio app.
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Hot Rods Baseball