Hot Rods Game Notes
August 4, 2021 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
Yesterday... Bowling Green squeaked out a 2-1 win over Wilmington on Tuesday. In the fourth inning, Curtis Mead got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly, scoring Greg Jones and taking the lead 1-0. After the Blue Rocks tied the game in the fifth, the Hot Rods winning run came in the ninth inning with two outs. Evan Edwards crushed a go-ahead, game-winning, solo homer to give the Hot Rods their 56th win of the year.
Minor Leaguer of The Month... Grant Witherspoon was named the Tampa Bay Rays Minor League Player of the Month on Wednesday. During the month of July, Spoon posted a .365 batting average, 35 hits, and a 1.098 OPS. He also led Bowling Green with 18 runs, 35 hits, 23 RBIs, and tied for the team lead with eight long balls. At the end of July, he mounted a 13-game hit streak that ended on Tuesday. Witherspoon is the second Hot Rods player to be awarded the Rays Minor League Player of the Month, joining Niko Hulsizer who was given the award in June.
New Additions... Over the past week, two new pitchers were added to the Hot Rods roster. RHP Angel Felipe was added on August 1st and made his first appearance for the Hot Rods the same day. He tossed two innings and four unearned runs. RHP Taj Bradley was added on August 3rd after racking up a 9-3 record with a 1.76 ERA over 15 games pitched in Low A Charleston. With the two additions, the Hot Rods roster now sits at 27 players.
July Final...The Hot Rods were one of the hottest teams in baseball in July, posting a 22-7 record over the course of the month. BG batted .270 as a team while hitting 40 homers with 170 runs scored, slugging .470 as a team with an OPS of .814. Grant Witherspoon batted .365 for the month in 24 games while Hill Alexander batted .379 in 19. Witherspoon and Jordan Qsar led the team with 10 homers while Witherspoon knocked in a team-leading 23 RBIs. Tanner Dodson finished the month 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA out of the bullpen while John Doxakis pitched a team-leading 29.0 innings with a 2.17 ERA with a club-best 30 strikeouts. Hot Rods pitching posted a 3.31 ERA as a staff with 303 strikeouts to just 75 walks.
Yesterday's Notes... Witherspoon's 13 game hit streak came to an end... Jones has a three-game hit streak... Alexander has a seven-game hit streak... Hollis had his 10th multi-hit game of the season... Edwards' homer in the ninth was his 15th of the season... It's the fourth 9th inning homer of the season for BG... Bowling Green has his 27 homers with two outs this year... The Hot Rods are 6-6 on Tuesdays... They're 304 on the road... They've not hit 10+ homers on every day of the week... Mercado's 1.2 innings ties the shortest start of his career from July 14, 2017, against the GCL Orioles... The Hot Rods are 10-4 in games to open a series in 2021... BG is 14-9 in one-run games this year... They're 35-13 in games they score first...
Now pitching: Evan McKendry... McKendry is coming off of his longest outing since June 29th. He tossed 3.0 innings on July 29th against Aberdeen, striking out three and giving up one run on a solo homer. Over his three appearances in July, he struck out seven and walked none in 6.0 innings of work. This start will be his fifth of the season and his fourth straight since returning from the IL.
South Atlantic League Stories from August 4, 2021
- Spence Special as Gades Win Fourth Straight - Hudson Valley Renegades
- Despite Dominguez Milestone and Eighth Inning Rally, Dash Fall 8-7 in Asheville - Winston-Salem Dash
- Dirden's Eighth Inning Blast the Difference in Asheville's 8-7 Win - Asheville Tourists
- Hot Rods Sling One-Hitter in 7-1 Win over Wilmington - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Greenville Plates One Run in Seventh, Eighth for 5-4 Comeback Win - Greenville Drive
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Witherspoon Earns Rays Minor League Player of the Month for July - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes (August 4) - Winston-Salem Dash
- Brian Van Belle Named High-A East Pitcher of the Month - Greenville Drive
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