SAL Bowling Green Hot Rods

Hot Rods Game Notes

Published on August 5, 2021 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release


The Hot Rods look to win their third straight against the Blue Rocks and guarantee at least a series split.

Yesterday... The Hot Rods pitching staff tossed a one-hitter in their 7-1 win over the Blue Rocks on Wednesday. The lone hit for Wilmington came in the third inning, a solo homer to tie the game at 1-1. Bowling Green broke the tie in top of the fourth with a two-run triple from Greg Jones and Curtis Mead singled to put the Hot Rods ahead 4-1. Mead and Michale Gigliotti hit homer runs in the sixth and seventh, pushing Bowling Green's lead to a final 7-1. Miller Hogan picked up the win, pitching five innings, and surrendered Wilmington's only hit and run whiles striking out three.

Hunting for Wins... Blake Hunt has been the primary catcher for Bowling Green this season. When he is behind the dish, the Hot Rods are 36-11. Over his last 18 games, he has posted a record of 16-2. On the season, Hunt's catcher ERA sits at 3.57. He has also thrown out 25% of the runners trying to steal against him, catching 13 out of the 51 attempts.

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... Jones has a four-game hit streak... He also had his eighth multi-RBI game of the season... Trevino had his seventh multi-hit game of 2021... Mead has his eighth multi-hit game of the year... It was also his first three-hit effort with BG this season... He had his fifth multi-RBI game of 2021... Gigliotti had his first multi-hit and multi-RBI games of the season... He was a member of Wilmington in 2019... The Hot Rods are 27-11 in games decided by four or more runs...

Now pitching: Alan Strong... Strong is set to make his fourth start for Bowling Green this season. He has tossed two consecutive outings of 4.0 innings, which are his longest of the year. Strong is the all-time wins leader for Bowling Green, racking up 15 between his 2019 and 2021 seasons.

Check out the Bowling Green Hot Rods Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 5, 2021


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