Hot Rods Game Notes
August 24, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
The series begins the final homestand of the regular season with four games against the Cubs, who are three-back in the divisional race, and three games against the Lake County Captains.
About Last Night... The Bowling Green Hot Rods looked for the sweep of Lake County on Friday night, and took the early lead as former Captain Ruben Cardenas came through with a two-out RBI single in the third. However, Lake County rallied back against BG starter Alan Strong, taking a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a pair of sacrifice flies. Strong finished 6.0 innings, then handed the ball off to Hector Figueroa, who threw a pair of scoreless frames, sending the game to the ninth with the score still 2-1, Lake County. In the ninth, the Hot Rods loaded the bases with two outs, setting the stage for Cardenas, who victimized his former team once more, lining a two-run single to center to give the Hot Rods the lead. Figueroa then set down the Captains in order in the bottom of the ninth, securing a 3-2 victory, as well as a series sweep and the fifth-straight win for Bowling Green.
The Road to Victory... Last night's win capped off a successful road trip for the Hot Rods, as they took their final five games of the trip through Fort Wayne and Lake County, securing a 5-2 trip. The five wins match the most victories on a single trip for BG this year, equalling the amount from an eight-game swing through Lake County and West Michigan on May 16-23. It was also the first time Bowling Green has won five straight away from home since doing so June 28-July 2, 2018. The sweep of Lake County also was just the second series sweep this season away from Bowling Green Ballpark, joining a June 29-July 1 sweep in Lansing.
Playoff Race Update... Bowling Green's fifth-straight win last night, coupled with Lansing's victory over South Bend, extended the Hot Rods' second-half division lead to three games over the Cubs, while the Lugnuts remain six games back. With the win last night, Bowling Green's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now four, meaning that they could clinch a berth as early as Sunday
He's On Fire... Jonathan Aranda extended his hitting streak to 15 games on Friday night, thanks to a third-inning single, tying Osmy Gregorio for the longest hit streak by a Hot Rod this season. The lefty is batting .362 over the streak with 21 hits (including two triples and three doubles) while collecting eight RBIs, eight runs, and five walks with an OBP of .422. Aranda has a .304 average in August, following up a .320 average in July. Aranda's streak is tied with Gregorio for the fifth-longest in the Midwest League this year, with the longest being 19-gamers from Great Lakes' Otto Lopez and Clinton's Christopher Torres.
Post Season All-Stars... The Midwest League announced the 2019 Post-Season All-Star roster on Friday, which included three Hot Rods. Wander Franco, who played 62 games in the blue and orange, took home Prospect of the Year for the league while also being voted best shortstop. RHP Caleb Sampen was the MWL right-handed pitcher and Chris Betts earned honors as the league's DH.
Single Season Record Watching... HR: Betts has 18 homers (4th most in a single season) and is one behind Moises Gomez (3rd, 19, 2018), three behind Ronaldo Hernandez (2nd, 21, 2018) and four behind Derek Dietrich (1st, 22, 2011)... RBIs: Betts' 68 are four behind Jake Hager (72, 2012) for fifth place... Hits: Proctor (125) trails Tim Beckham (135) for fifth and Drew Vettleson (139, 2012) for fourth... Strikeouts: Betts (126) is three behind Adrian Rondon (129, 2017) for fifth-most... Wins: Sampen and Strong (9) are one win away from moving into a five-way tie for fourth-most... Saves: Peguero (13) is one away from tying Scott Shuman (14, 2010) for fourth-most... Team Strikeouts (pitching): BG has 1183 K's as a staff ahead of Saturday's game. The club record is 1196 in 2018...
Last Night's Notes... Aranda extended his hit streak to 15 games... That ties Gregorio for the longest streak by a BG hitter this season... Cardenas had back-to-back three RBI games to close out the series... it was his eighth three-RBI game this season... He has 21 multi-RBI games this year...Cardenas had his 27th multi-hit game of the 2019 season as well... Ostberg has a four-game hitting streak... Witherspoon had his 29th multi-hit game of the year... Gregorio had his 21st multi-hit game of the year... Gregorio tied a career-high with three hits... It's his 21st multi-hit game of the season and seventh three-hit effort... The Hot Rods are 14-8 in the month of August... They're 9-8 against Lake County with three games left to play in the season series... BG is 24-21 in one-run games this season... They're 18-17 in games started by an opposing lefty... BG is 21-12-6 in series this season... BG has won 53 games in which they have scored first this year... They're also 51-8 when outhitting their opponent...
Midwest League Stories from August 24, 2019
- Favorable Firsts - Great Lakes Loons
- Five-Run Fifth Helps Bandits Open Series with 8-2 Win - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Chiefs Blow Another Save, Get Walked Off In Iowa - Peoria Chiefs
- Winning Streak Stopped at Four - Clinton LumberKings
- Beloit Spoils Return Home - Burlington Bees
- Dragons One-Hit Captains - Lake County Captains
- Lugnuts Unable to Manage Loons' Mischief - Lansing Lugnuts
- Hot Rods Drop 2-1 Nail-Biter to Cubs to Open Series - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Three Dragons Pitchers Combine for One-Hit Shutout in 3-0 Win - Dayton Dragons
- Cardiac Kernels Walk off against Chiefs - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- TinCaps Drop Series Opener at West Michigan - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Rattlers Beat Clinton 4-1 to Pick Up Ground in Playoff Chase - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Byron Buxton to Rehab with Kernels Starting Sunday - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Saturday, August 24 - Dayton Dragons
- TinCaps Game Notes: August 24 at West Michigan (Game 129) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Lopez Lifts Lugnuts in 10th, 5-4 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Rattlers Complete Sweep of Bees with 8-2 Win - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Cubs Can't Complete Comeback and Drop Finale to Lugnuts 5-4 - South Bend Cubs
- Ex-Captain Cardenas Stuns Lake County - Lake County Captains
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