Hot Rods Game Notes
June 21, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
About Last Night... After four scoreless innings, Bowling Green plated the first run of the game against South Bend starter Derek Casey. Roberto Alvarez doubled to right on the first pitch of the inning and went to third when Russ Olive grounded out to second. Beau Brundage singled to right, plating Alvarez to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead. In the sixth, All-Star Witherspoon rudely greeted Cubs reliever Brendan King. Witherspoon led off the inning for the Hot Rods and in a 1-1 count, drove the third pitch he saw over the right-field wall to make it a 2-0 game. Witherspoon's eighth homer of the year sailed past the scoreboard and landed on top of a bounce house on the stadium concourse. Cristopher Sanchez threw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen to close out a 2-0 shutout victory to kick off the second-half of the season.
The South Bend Series... You don't often see a team with a nine-run edge in a season series also have a .285 win percentage against an opponent, but that's exactly what's happened to the Hot Rods through their first seven games against South Bend. Thursday's win was just the second of the season against the Cubs, improving to 2-5 on the year. Bowling Green has out-scored SB 29-20 and has an ERA of 2.40 in the series, compared to South Bends' 3.77 mark. BG has also outhit the Cubs by 33-percentage points in batting average. Most of Bowling Green's 29 runs came in the final game of a May series where the Hot Rods defeated South Bend 17-0.
First Half... The Hot Rods finished the first half 5.5 games out of first place and were in contention for the wild card until the second-to-last day of the half, eventually losing out to the Lake County Captains. BG concluded the half 39-31 (the third best first-half mark in franchise history) while batting .251 and 48 homers. The pitching staff concluded the half with a 3.59 ERA. BG was 22-13 at home and 17-18 on the road.
All-Star Break... Eight Hot Rods were selected to participate in the 2019 All-Star festivities this week in South Bend, all of whom got to play. Chris Betts was 0-0 with two walks, Wander Franco was 0-3 with two K's, Roberto Alvarez was 0-2, and Grant Witherspoon was 0-1 with a K as a reserve. On the pitching side faired better, with Alan Strong entering first from the bullpen while authoring 0.1 innings with a hold. Trey Cumbie threw 1.0 innings in a hold with a hit and a walk, Caleb Sampen earned a hold after 1.0 innings, a hit, and a strikeout, and Easton McGee got 0.1 innings of work. The 3-3 ballgame ended in the ninth in a tie, with a Home Run Derby settling the contest. Betts walked-off the Western Division squad, hitting two homers in the 90-second time frame to earn him MVP honors.
Yesterday's Notes... Hogan tied his career-high with five innings of work... It's the third time he's done so... He also tied his season-high in hits allowed with three... Alvarez has a four-game hit streak... Proctor has a three-game hitting streak... Brundage snapped a seven-game hitless stretch... Olive and Jordan Qsar both had a hit in their first game for the Hot Rods... Witherspoon had his 16th multi-hit game of the season... The Hot Rods are 5-6 in shutouts this season... BG earned their second win of the season against South Bend on Thursday and are 2-5 in the season series... Sanchez tied a season-high with six strikeouts... South Bend's Tyler Durna had three of the Cubs' five hits...
Midwest League Stories from June 21, 2019
- Liberatore K's Seven Cubs in 1-0 Loss on Friday - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- LumberKings Drop Fifth Straight - Clinton LumberKings
- DeMers, Conley combine for gem against Quad Cities - Beloit Sky Carp
- Late Run Pushes Rattlers Past Clinton - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Remy, Patterson, and Roberts Combine to Whitewash Hot Rods 1-0 - South Bend Cubs
- 'Caps Swept, No-Hit by Captains - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Chiefs Fall to Cedar Rapids in Extra Innings - Peoria Chiefs
- Early Lead Doesn't Hold as Bandits Fall 4-2 in Beloit - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Kernels Bounce Back for 11-Inning Win - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Nuts Shutout Dragons, 4-0 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Loons bounce back to even series with TinCaps with 6-3 win - Great Lakes Loons
- Lansing Pitching Trio Shuts out Dragons on Four Hits, 4-0 - Dayton Dragons
- Ruiz Reaches Four Times, But 'Caps Fall to Loons - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Bees Game Postponed - Burlington Bees
- TinCaps Game Notes: June 21 at Great Lakes (Game 70) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Daniel Ozoria and Petru Balan join Kernels - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Dragons on TV Saturday & Sunday on Dayton's CW - Dayton Dragons
- Dragons Notes for Friday - Dayton Dragons
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
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