Peoria, IL- Caleb Sampen turned in a quality start for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, tossing seven shutout innings while allowing just one hit to the Peoria Chiefs in a 2-1 loss on Friday night at Dozer Park in Peoria, IL. The Hot Rods are 16-12 overall and will take
Peoria, IL- Caleb Sampen turned in a quality start for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, tossing seven shutout innings while allowing just one hit to the Peoria Chiefs in a 2-1 loss on Friday night at Dozer Park in Peoria, IL. The Hot Rods are 16-12 overall and will take on the Peoria Distillers as the Bowling Green Bootleggers on Saturday in the Battle for the Barrel with a 6:35 PM CDT first pitch.
Neither pitching staff allowed a run over the first seven innings of play but Sampen dominated the Chiefs lineup for the Hot Rods. In his fifth start of the season the righty allowed a hit to the third batter he faced and then hunkered down. The Hot Rods starter went on a roll, retiring the next 19 batters he faced which included eight strikeouts.
The Hot Rods finally broke through in the eighth against Chiefs reliever Thomas St. Clair. Chris Betts earned a one-out walk and went to second when Tony Pena singled to right. A passed ball allowed Betts to move to third with Pena filling in at second and Jake Palomaki singled to right, scoring Betts to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth the Chiefs tied and took the lead against Hot Rods reliever Nick Sprengel. With one out, Wadye Ynfante doubled to left and Alexis Wilson walked while Ynfante scored after Brandon Riley singled to center to tie the game. Edwin Figuera rolled a ball to first base but Kaleo Johnson's throw to second was errant and ended up in left-center and allowed Wilson to score the go-ahead run. Sprengel struck out Nolan Gorman to end the inning, but the frame ended with the Chiefs in front, 2-1.
Sampen tossed seven scoreless innings while holding the Chiefs to one hit with eight strikeouts in a no decision. Sprengel (0-1) blew a save and took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Notes: Sampen's seven innings of work are a season-high for Bowling Green… It's also a career-high… He retired 19-straight Chiefs between the first and seventh innings… Sampen fell one-shy of his career high in strikeouts with eight on Friday… Friday's loss was the first in the opening game of a series for Bowling Green… They're now 8-1 in those games… When Peoria scored in the eighth, it ended a run of 17.1 innings without allowing a run… Connor Hollis had his sixth multi-hit effort of the season… Michael Smith has a three-game hitting streak… Grant Witherspoon extended his hit streak to four games with a single in the ninth… The Hot Rods are 4-3 in one-run games… They're also 10-4 when the team scores first… Friday was Bowling Green's fourth loss of the year when they out-hit their opponent… The Bowling Green Bootleggers take the field to face the Peoria Distillers in the Battle for the Barrell on Saturday…. The Bootleggers will send LH Shane McClanahan (1-3, 4.71) to the mound to face Distillers' RH Alvaro Seijas (1-2, 2.79)… The winner of the game will take home the Battle for the Barrell trophy… 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
