Hot Rods Game Notes
August 27, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
The Hot Rods welcome in the Lake County Captains for the final home series of the 2019 regular season before going to South Bend over the weekend for the regular-season finale with three games against the Cubs.
About Last Night... The Bowling Green Hot Rods entered Monday's doubleheader needing a sweep and a Great Lakes win over Lansing to clinch a playoff spot. In game-one, the Hot Rods jumped out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning. Zack Trageton held South Bend off the board for three innings but allowed three runs in the fourth to tie the game. However, he righted the ship in the fifth, which set the stage for Chris Betts, who singled home Ford Proctor with two outs in the fifth to break the tie. After a two-out walk in the sixth, Joel Peguero relieved Trageton and recorded the final four outs to secure a 4-3 win. In game-two, Hot Rods starter Shane Baz failed to get out of the first inning but only allowed one run and Nick Padilla stranded the bases loaded to end the inning. In the third, Osmy Gregorio gave the Hot Rods the lead with a two-run homer to right. Immediately after Lansing lost, BG added on a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Nathan Witt allowed a run in the seventh, but nailed down a 7-2 win, sending the Hot Rods back to the playoffs for a fourth-straight season.
To September We Go... With the Hot Rods punching their playoff ticket, the Hot Rods earned their seventh playoff bid in franchise history and their fourth-consecutive trip to the postseason. For Bowling Green, this is the fourth time that they punched their ticket in the second half. Additionally, the Hot Rods are in search of their fifth division title. To take the second-half Eastern Division crown, the magic number to do so is four, with South Bend being BG's closest competition, four games back with seven to play.
Padilla's Villa... A critical part of Bowling Green's game two victory was pitcher Nick Padilla, who came out of the bullpen in the first inning, left the bases loaded, then proceeded to throw 3.1 shutout innings in relief, earning the victory. For the right-hander, that is the longest outing for him this season and the longest relief outing of his career. Additionally, Padilla punched out seven hitters, setting a new career-high in the process. For his efforts, Padilla earned his seventh win of the season, leaving just one win behind Tyler Zombro (2018) and Alex Koronis (2010) for the most wins by a BG reliever. Padilla has particularly had success at Bowling Green Ballpark, going 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA at home, striking out 35 batters in 27.0 innings and holding opposing hitters to a .191 average.
Packing Them In... With a crowd of 2,809 in attendance for last night's doubleheader, the Hot Rods surpassed 2018's season attendance total of 178,329 with four games still to play in the 2019 home slate. BG has seen 178,820 fans pass through the turnstiles of Bowling Green Ballpark, averaging 2,884 per date. At that pace, the Hot Rods are on track to draw 190,356 fans, which would be the team's highest mark since 2015.
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' 70 are two behind Jake Hager (72, 2012) for fifth place... Hits: Proctor (127) trails Tim Beckham (135) for fifth and Drew Vettleson (139, 2012) for fourth... Strikeouts: Betts (129) is tied with 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 (14) is tied with Scott Shuman (14, 2010) for fourth-most... Team Strikeouts (pitching): BG set a franchise record in the first game of Monday's doubleheader, surpassing the club record of 1196 in 2018. BG currently has 1,207 punchouts.
Last Night's Notes... The Hot Rods clinched their seventh playoff berth in franchise history, their fourth in a row...Schnell has hit safely in six-straight games...He recorded his second multi-hit game in game one...Schnell also tied his career-high with three hits in the first game...Betts notched his 18th multi-RBI contest in the first game...Ostberg had a four-game hitting streak snapped in game one...Gregorio homered for the first time since August 16 vs. Dayton in game two...He recorded his eighth three-hit game and ninth multi-RBI game...Alvarez notched his 11th multi-RBI night in game two...Witherspoon had his 29th multi-hit night...Proctor had multiple hits for the 35th time...Trageton had a streak of 15.0-consecutive scoreless innings snapped in game one...He earned his fifth-straight win, joining Matthew Liberatore and Alan Strong as the only Hot Rods to win five-straight decisions...Padilla went a season-high 3.1 innings in game two...He set a career-high with seven strikeouts...Bowling Green broke their franchise record of 1196 strikeouts (set in 2018) in game one...The Hot Rods are 15-9 in the month of August...Bowling Green is 5-0-5 in doubleheaders...BG is 25-22 in one-run games this season...The Hot Rods are 59-38 against right-handed starters and 19-17 against lefties...
Midwest League Stories from August 27, 2019
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- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
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- Captains Come from Behind to Top Dragons, 5-3 - Dayton Dragons
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- Dragons Notes for Tuesday - Dayton Dragons
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- Hot Rods Sweep Cubs in Doubleheader 4-3, 7-2 - South Bend Cubs
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