BG Game Notes
July 24, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
About Monday... In the rubber game of the series against Quad Cities, the Hot Rods and River Bandits locked into a tight pitcher's duel. After Caleb Sampen and River Bandits starter Jonathan Bermudez traded zeroes for three innings, Quad Cities struck against Sampen in the fourth. After a leadoff single by Ramiro Rodriguez, Sampen allowed the runner to move into scoring position on an errant pickoff attempt. A groundout and sacrifice fly would get Ramirez across the plate, giving Quad Cities a 1-0 lead. Following that, Bowling Green tallied just two more hits and could never push across the equalizer, falling in the series finale by a score of 1-0.
Not the Best Against the West... Monday's game against the Quad Cities River Bandits marked not just the end of a six-game road trip, but also the end of inter-divisional play in the Midwest League for the regular season. Bowling Green started off well against the Western Division, winning three of four series and going 7-5 against the other side in the first half. Over the past two weeks, though, BG lost three of their four sets against Western Division clubs, ending the season 12-12 in interdivisional play. All-time, BG is 127-113 against the West since joining the Midwest League, with a high-water mark of 17-7 in 2016 and their worst showing being a 4-20 mark in 2014.
Sampen's Sterling Stretch... Despite seeing his four-game winning streak come to an end, Caleb Sampen continued a dominant run of pitching extending back before the All-Star break. By allowing just an unearned run over 7.0 innings on Monday, Sampen has allowed just six earned runs over his last 39.0 innings, posting a 1.38 ERA over a seven-start span that dates back to June 10. In that time, he has lowered his ERA from 4.03 to 2.97, which ranks sixth in the league. He also has earned four wins in that time, raising his season total to seven, which is tied for second.
Moving Up, Moving Out... Bowling Green made a transaction on Wednesday afternoon, with infielder Connor Hollis earning a promotion to the Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs. Despite missing 40 games due to injury, Hollis batted .281 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 41 games for the Hot Rods. In a corresponding move, infielder Russ Olive returns from the 7-Day Injured List, where he had been since July 6. Olive has appeared in nine games for Bowling Green, batting .167 with one home run and three RBI.
So We Meet Again... Bowling Green returns to divisional play with a three-game series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps. It is the first time the two squads meet up in the second half, and
it's the TinCaps' third and final trip to Bowling Green this season. Overall, the Hot Rods are 4-5 against Fort Wayne, winning both a home and road series in April, but they were swept at home by the TinCaps in the penultimate series of the first half on June 11-13. The Hot Rods have struggled with Fort Wayne pitching this season, batting just .236 and scoring 34 runs in the first nine meetings. The TinCaps have hit .253 and tallied 39 runs against Hot Rods pitching this season.
Top 30 Past and Present... The 2019 Hot Rods have had some great talent come through, and it's well represented on MLB Pipeline's top-30 Rays prospects. While Matthew Liberatore (4th) and Shane Baz (8th) are the only two current Hot Rods on the list, Shane McClanahan (11th), Joe Ryan (17th), and top prospect Wander Franco are all on the list. Ryan, a right-handed pitcher, was recently added after beginning the season outside of the top-30. Ryan started six games in BG and posted a 2.93 ERA with 47 K's in 27.2 innings of work prior to his promotion
Monday's Notes... Alvarez had his 21st multi-hit game of the season... Ostberg has a four-
game hitting streak... Ostberg had his second multi-hit game of the season... Both are two-hit efforts... Sampen tied a career-high with seven innings for the fifth time... All five occurrences have been in 2019 with Bowling Green... With the loss, Sampen's four-game winning streak is over... BG was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position... The last time the Hot Rods suffered a 1-0 loss was on June 21 at Four Winds Field in South Bend, IN against the South Bend Cubs... It was the ninth time this season the Hot Rods were shut out... Monday's loss was the second time on this road trip the Hot Rods were shut out... Wilson hit in the leadoff spot for the Hot Rods for the first time this season... Wilson had his second outfield assist of the season... It was his first at home plate... Bowling Green has thrown out eight baserunners at home plate this season...
Midwest League Stories from July 24, 2019
- Ortiz Headlines Offensive Struggle - Great Lakes Loons
- Seventh Inning Surge Pushes Peoria Past Bandits 9-5 - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Cubs Bite Captains in Road Trip Opener - Lake County Captains
- Dominant Pitching Leads Snappers to Series Opener Win - Beloit Sky Carp
- Snappers Defeat Bees 5-1 to Open Series - Burlington Bees
- Late Rallies Fall Short In 5-3 Loss - Clinton LumberKings
- Kennedy Breaks out to Send Cougars into First - Kane County Cougars
- Cubs Win Third Straight by Beating Captains 8-2 - South Bend Cubs
- Kernels Pop Past Rattlers 4-3 - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Hot Rods Earn 6-5 Comeback Win to Open Series - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Cedar Rapids Comes Back for 4-3 Win - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Loons Edge Dragons in 10 Innings, 2-0 - Dayton Dragons
- BG Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- TinCaps Game Notes: July 24 at Bowling Green (Game 99) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Dragons to Honor the Miracle League of Greater Dayton as "Community All-Star" - Dayton Dragons
- Dragons Notes for Wednesday - Dayton Dragons
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