Hot Rods Game Notes
August 12, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
About Yesterday... The Hot Rods took a one-run lead twice in Sunday's bout with the Great Lakes Loons, but the Loons delt a big blow on their way to a 7-4 win, forcing a Monday rubber match to decide the winner of the three-game set. The Hot Rods took a 1-0 lead in the second with Russ Olive bringing home Chris Betts on a ground out to second. Great Lakes tied the game with an RBI single off the batt of Matt Cogen and grabbed the lead thanks to Jair Camargo's sacrifice fly, making it 2-1 in the Loons favor. Jordan Qsar led off the fourth with a deep home run to center field, tying the game, and Chris Betts followed up with a triple down the right-field line. Two batters later, Olive sent a sacrifice fly to left, giving BG a 3-2 lead. Caleb Sampen lasted five innings in the start, but Michael Costanzo ran into trouble out of the bullpen in the sixth. Romer Cuadrado tied the game with a leadoff homer before the Loons loaded the bases with two outs for James Outman, who blasted a grand slam to give the Loons a four-run lead. The Hot Rods got a run back in the eighth but were unable to mount a comeback in the 7-4 loss to tie the three-game set.
Awesome in August... While the Hot Rods are one game above .500 with 11 games played in August, two hitters have risen above the rest of the roster. Ford Proctor is leading the team with a .353 batting average this month, having hit a home run to go along with four doubles, second-most on the team. He's also posted a .436 OBP. Grant Witherspoon is off to a hot start in the final full month of the season. He's batting .323 with a homer and a triple while leading the team in doubles with five. Witherspoon had six RBIs and five walks in the month and owns a .417 OBP. Spoon also leads the Hot Rods with three stolen bases this month, half of the team's total. Jordan Qsar is leading the way in homers, blasting three long balls through 11 games.
August 12 History... The Hot Rods will play on August 12th for the 10th time in team history, but the day has not been kind to BG. The team has a record of 2-7 with the last victory coming on August 12, 2015, at Bowling Green Ballpark against the Burlington Bees. The Hot Rods have played seven of the nine contests on the road, and have been outscored 47-32 while Monday's matchup will be Bowling Green's second meeting with the Loons on August 12th in franchise history, a meeting Bowling Green won 12-6 in 2014.
Stingy to Start the Week... The pitching staff has had their way with opposing offenses on Mondays this season. In 14 games Hot Rods pitching has posted a 1.98 team ERA on the first day of the week. They own a 10-4 record and a 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. They've also issued 30 walks on Mondays while holding opponents to a .211 batting average to their opponents.
Champions of the Sun... The Hot Rods have been incredible during day games this season, posting a 21-8 (second to only the Loons, 23-6) record in those contests during the 2019 season. Heading into Monday's 11:05 AM CDT first pitch, The pitching staff has a 2.75 ERA over 29 games. The staff is allowing a .225 while striking out 249 and walking 85 over 248.1 innings. The hitters have been on during daylight hours, too. The Hot Rods are batting .286 in their 29 games with 26 homers, having outscored their opponents 179-98 (that's a run differential of +81) and posting a team OBP of .367.
The Tools to Succeed... Baseball America released its "Best Tools" list on Wednesday. Former Hot Rods shortstop Wander Franco picked up three wins, taking home "Best Batting Prospect", "Best Strike-Zone Judgement", and "Most Exciting Player" categories. Right-handed starter Alan Strong was voted as having the best control for any pitcher in the league as well. In total, 14 categories were won by current or former Hot Rods for the 2019 version of the list, which polls managers from every league in the minors who vote to select winners in each category.
Let's Get Loony... The top two squads in the East Division, both in the second half and the full season, square off as Bowling Green and Great Lakes match up for their final series of the regular season. The Hot Rods have fared well against the Loons, posting an 8-4 record, highlighted by a series victory at the Dow Diamond on April 18-20 and a four-game sweep in Bowling Green on June 25-28 that catapulted the Hot Rods into first place, beginning a 41-day stay atop the standings. The two teams are tied for the division's second-half lead while the Loons already have a playoff berth after winning the first-half division title.
Yesterday's Notes...The Sunday loss ended a three-game winning streak...Nathan Witt, who was a Midwest League All-Star with Great Lakes, made his return to Dow Diamond for the first time as a member of the Hot Rods... He also set a career-high with 2.1 innings of work... He surpassed his previous high of 2.0 innings, which he reached five times... Witt also tied his career-high in strikeouts with three... It's the third time he's reached that total... Olive had his second multi-RBI game of the season... Aranda has a four-game hit streak... He also had his ninth multi-hit game of 2019... Sampen struck out seven for the third time this season... He's had five outings with seven or more K's for the Hot Rods this year... Whalen's six-game hit streak came to an end... BG is now 10-7 on Sundays... This includes a Sunday road record of 2-6... Qsar's homer was the 10th Sunday blast of the season... It's also the 12th time a Hot Rods hitter has homered in the fourth inning of a game this year... BG has homered against the Loons 13 times this season, the second-highest total against any team in 2019... They've hit the most long-balls against Dayton (14) and still have three games left with the Dragons... BG is 47-22 when scoring first after the loss... BG drops to 6-5 in the second half... They're 29-30 on the road this season... The team is 3-2 on the current road trip... It's the Hot Rods' 7th loss this season by three runs...
Midwest League Stories from August 12, 2019
- Cubs Drop Finale to TinCaps 3-1 - South Bend Cubs
- Nuts Sweep Dragons, Win 4th Straight - Lansing Lugnuts
- Bees Win Series, Drop Finale - Burlington Bees
- Middle of Lineup Helps Cougars Avoid Sweep - Kane County Cougars
- TinCaps Win South Bend Series Finale - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Picantes' Offense Smoking Hot - Lake County Captains
- Snappers Avoid Sweep With 9th Inning Push In Cedar Rapids - Beloit Sky Carp
- Beloit Tops Cedar Rapids in Series Finale - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- 'Caps Score Six in 13-6 Loss - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Lansing Holds off Dragons 9th Inning Comeback Bid to Win, 4-3 - Dayton Dragons
- Lugnuts Pitcher Pardinho Placed on Injured List - Lansing Lugnuts
- Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Homestand Highlights: August 14-16 - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Wisconsin Edges River Bandits 4-3 - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Peyton Burdick Named Player of the Week - Clinton LumberKings
- Burdick Homers Twice, LumberKings Win 4th Straight - Clinton LumberKings
- TinCaps Game Notes: August 12 at South Bend (Game 118) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Bandits Come up Short in Series Finale at Wisconsin - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Chiefs Fall Monday - Peoria Chiefs
- Loons Drop Series Finale - Great Lakes Loons
- Qsar Homers Again, Trageton K's Nine in 4-1 Win - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Dragons Notes for Monday - Dayton Dragons
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- OF James Nix transferred from GCL Astros to Quad Cities - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Kirby, Greene Save 'Caps Win - West Michigan Whitecaps
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