Hot Rods Game Notes
August 1, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
The Hot Rods have dropped the first two games to the Dragons, including a walk-off loss in last night's contest, are are tied for first place in the Eastern Division after holding a lead as large as four games. Bowling Green is still two games ahead of South Bend, the closest team eligible for the second-half championship.
About Yesterday.. The Hot Rods and Dragons squared off in game two of the four-game series in Dayton. Dayton scored a run in the first inning against Zach Trageton, who was making his first start for the Hot Rods, but Bowling Green got the run back and more in the second, as Jordan Qsar connected for a two-run homer. The Dragons, though, maintained a steady offensive attack, scoring single runs in four-consecutive inning beginning in the third. After a sixth-inning tally, Dayton held a 5-2 lead entering the seventh. The Hot Rods, though, mounted a comeback in the late innings. Roberto Alvarez led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a single by Qsar. An inning later, Alvarez came through again, lining a bases-loaded single into center field, scoring Ruben Cardenas and Erik Ostberg to tie the game at 5 each. After the Hot Rods failed to convert on a leadoff double in the ninth, the Dragons, Mariel Bautista reached on an error to begin the bottom of the frame, moved to second on a bunt, and scored on a walk-off double from Brian Rey, giving the Dragons a 6-5 win, their second straight to kick off the series.
Big News... The Hot Rods announced on Wednesday that the club has furthered their relationship with Hopkinsville, Kentucky-based distillery Casey Jones. The two entities have worked together to produce a product called "Grand Slam Moonshine" which is being bottled, labeled, and boxed this week and will be available at Bowling Green Ballpark beginning in August for mixed drinks. The new product will hit the shelves thereafter.
Chasing History... Chris Betts hit his 17th home run of the season on Monday and is the active HR leading in the Midwest League heading into Tuesday's game and one behind former Lake County Captain Will Benson's total of 18 (he's since been promoted to A+ Lynchburg). The homer moves Betts into a tie for fourth with Phillip Wunderlich (2011) for the fourth-most homers in a single season in Hot Rods franchise history. He's two away from tying for third with 2018 Hot Rods Moises Gomez (19), four from second place (Ronaldo Hernandez, 21, 2018), and five from first (Derek Dietrich, 22, 2011).
One More in the Books... The calendar has flipped to August, signaling the end of four months of play in the 2019 season. As they did in the first three months of the season, Bowling Green posted a winning record in July, going 15-13. While the Hot Rods did rack up their 14th-straight winning month (dating to July, 2017), July was the Hot Rods' worst month record-wise since going 12-11 in April, 2018. However, the Bowling Green offense enjoyed July, batting .274 and averaging 5.07 runs per game, both of which are the best monthly marks for Bowling Green this year. However, the pitching staff posted a 3.56 ERA, their second-worst month this season, and allowed 123 runs (98 earned), the most given up in a month this season. While July was plagued by up-and-down play for Bowling Green, the Hot Rods did spend the entire month in first place of the East Division second half standings.
Tradewinds Have Blown... With the end of July, the MLB trade deadline has also come and gone. While Wednesday's deadline saw no current Hot Rods change teams, four Bowling Green alums were dealt by the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday. Ryne Stanek (2014) and Jesus Sanchez (2017) headed to Miami in a deal. Additionally, Joe McCarthy (2017) was sent to San Francisco, while Jacob Faria (2014) is off to Milwaukee. Earlier in the week, the Hot Rods were affected by a deal with Cleveland on Sunday, sending infielder Christian Arroyo and former Hot Rods pitcher Hunter Wood (2014-15) to the Indians. In exchange, the Rays received outfielder Ruben Cardenas, formerly of the Lake County Captains, who was added to the Bowling Green roster on Monday. Cardenas batted .284 in 84 games for Lake County, swatting 10 home runs with 54 RBI and has a hit in each of his first two games in a Hot Rods uniform.
Yesterday's Notes... Gregorio had his 18th multi-hit game of the season... Alvarez had his 24th multi-hit effort in 2019... It was his fourth three-hit game... Qsar had his third multi-hit game of the season... All three are two-hit games... Proctor has a six-game hitting streak... Aranda's seven-game hit streak ended... The Hot Rods finish July 15-13... BG is 19-19 in one-run games... They're also 14-16 against left-handed starters... Trageton became the first Hot Rods pitcher this season to allow more than one triple in a game... Hot Rods manager Reinaldo Ruiz was ejected in the eighth... It's the third time this season Ruiz has been run... All three instances happened in the month of July...
Midwest League Stories from August 1, 2019
- Late Letdown Costs Bees Milestone, Win - Burlington Bees
- Misner & Osborne Go Deep in 9th For 5th Straight - Clinton LumberKings
- Bees Lose Late to River Bandits, 7-6 - Burlington Bees
- Late LumberKing Homers Sink Rattlers - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Wild Night Ends in Heartbreak - Great Lakes Loons
- Holderbach's Ninth Inning Homer Completes Unlikely Comeback Win for Bandits - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Captains Edge Lugnuts, 5-4 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Roederer Smacks First Four Winds Field Home Run in 4-3 Win - South Bend Cubs
- Whalen Crushes Cougars Again - Kane County Cougars
- TinCaps Outslug Loons in Marathon Game - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Captains Open August with Narrow Win - Lake County Captains
- Chiefs Beat Cougars Again, Clinch Winning Homestand - Peoria Chiefs
- Bats Stumble in Loss to Kernels 4-2 - Beloit Sky Carp
- Dragons Earn Second Straight Walk Off Win, Topping BG 3-2 - Dayton Dragons
- Snyder's Double Drives Kernels to 4-2 Win - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Whitecaps Miss Chances in 4-3 Loss - West Michigan Whitecaps
- RHP Kai-Wei Teng Sent to San Francisco as part of the Sam Dyson deal - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- TinCaps Game Notes: August 1 at Great Lakes (Game 107) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Dragons Notes for Thursday - Dayton Dragons
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