Hot Rods Game Notes
July 5, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
The game concludes the series as the Hot Rods welcome in the West Michigan White Caps on Saturday for a three-game set.
About Last Night... The Bowling Green Hot Rods and Dayton Dragons shifted their series to Bowling Green Ballpark for a July 4 tilt. In front of the fifth-largest crowd in franchise history, the Hot Rods put on a show for the masses. In the first, Bowling Green took the lead when Ford Proctor and Osmy Gregorio both singled, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Proctor scored on a groundout by Jonathan Aranda, then Gregorio came home on a balk by Dayton pitcher Connor Curlis, giving Bowling Green a 2-0 lead. In the second, Grant Witherspoon was hit by a pitch, moved to third on an error, then scored on a single by Gregorio. An inning later, Izzy Wilson launched a solo homer off the right-field scoreboard, making the score 4-0, Hot Rods. In the fifth, Hot Rods starter Matthew Liberatore allowed two hits and two walks, with an error added in. Dayton scored twice and had the bases loaded with one out, but Cristopher Sanchez entered and allowed no more runs to score in the inning, followed by two more scoreless frames. Cristofer Ogando entered and fired a pair of scoreless innings, striking out five in nailing down a 4-2 victory.
Packing Them In... Last night, the Hot Rods welcomed 6,199 fans to Bowling Green Ballpark, recording the team's third sellout of the season, Not only that, but the gathering marked the fifth-largest crowd in Hot Rods franchise history. It is Bowling Green's first time drawing at least 6,000 fans since August 21, 2017 and their largest crowd overall since April 26, 2017. The franchise attendance record remains the 6,886 fans drawn to the inaugural Hot Rods opener on April 17, 2009.
Transaction Time... The Hot Rods announced a move involving a pair of pitchers on Friday. LHP Cristopher Sanchez was promoted to the Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs following a tremendous stretch of pitching, ending his Hot Rods tenure with 15.0-consecutive scoreless innings. Sanchez has allowed just one run over his last 26.2 innings since June 1, good for a miniscule 0.34 ERA. Overall, he has gone 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA this season. Taking his spot on the roster is RHP Nathan Witt. The 23-year-old Witt was acquired from the Dodgers on Wednesday by Tampa Bay in exchange for RHP Casey Sadler. Witt had spent the entire season with the Great Lakes Loons, going 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA in 22 appearances, while collecting five saves and earning a selection to the Midwest League All-Star Game
Still Stingy... The Hot Rods continued their dominant pitching stretch to begin the second half with their victory on Thursday night. Through 14 games in the half, the pitching staff has posted a 2.07 ERA, leading the league in that department. Bowling Green hurlers have allowed the fewest runs (36), home runs (2), and walks (27), while striking out 128 batters in 122.0 innings of work and holding opposing hitters to a .233 average.
Yesterday's Notes... Gregorio extended his hitting streak to six games...He also collected his 10th multi-hit game and his fourth three-hit game...Proctor has a four-game hit streak...Jonathan Aranda had a five-game hitting streak snapped...Witherspoon struck out a season-high three times, tying his career high...Liberatore's 4.1 innings is his shortest outing of the season...Wilson's home run was just the eighth against a left-handed pitcher for Bowling Green...Sanchez has thrown 15.0-consecutive scoreless innings, four outs shy of the longest scoreless streak by a Hot Rod this year (Caleb Sampen with 16.1 innings)...Ogando set a season-high with five strikeouts...Bowling Green drew 6,199 fans, their fifth-largest crowd in franchise history and their largest since April 26, 2017...Bowling Green has won three-straight years on July 4...The Hot Rods are 27-13 at home...They have also won five-straight home games... The team is 10-6 in two-run games this season... They're 10-11 against left-handed starters in 2019...BG is 8-3 against Dayton this season...6-1 at home.
Midwest League Stories from July 5, 2019
- Eighth-Inning Rally Sparks Comeback Win - Lake County Captains
- Betts Homers as Hot Rods Fall 13-7 to Dayton - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Ward's Blast Helps Beloit Knock off Bandits 3-2 - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Big Nights from Morel and Daniel Lead to 5-1 Cubs Win - South Bend Cubs
- Dragons Hitters Enjoy Biggest Night of the Year in 13-7 Win - Dayton Dragons
- Whitecaps Settle for Split with South Bend - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Conine Drives Nuts to Series Win over Loons - Lansing Lugnuts
- Ward's Homer Propels Snappers to Series Split - Beloit Sky Carp
- Sellout Crowd Packs Parkview Field for Second Straight Night - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Webb Debuts with Walk-Off Winner - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Cougars Hold Rattlers to One Hit in 3-0 Win - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Cougars One-Hit Timber Rattlers to Earn Split - Kane County Cougars
- Loons Fall Short in Ninth - Great Lakes Loons
- Whalen Collects RBI Double for Chiefs in Clinton - Peoria Chiefs
- Ben Rodriguez placed on 7-day Injured List - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Dragons Homestand Preview for July 6-15 - Dayton Dragons
- INF Grae Kessinger transferred from Tri-City to Quad Cities - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Dragons on TV Saturday & Sunday on Dayton's CW - Dayton Dragons
- Dragons Notes for Friday - Dayton Dragons
- TinCaps Game Notes: July 5 vs. Lake County (Game 83) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Kernels Comeback to Beat Bees 5-4 - Burlington Bees
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
