SAL Bowling Green Hot Rods

Hot Rods Game Notes

August 10, 2021 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release


The Drive and Hot Rods opened the season at Fluor Field in Greenville back in early May.

Sunday... The Hot Rods dropped the final game of a six-game series against Wilmington 10-3 on Sunday. Bowling Green brought in the first run of the game in the fourth inning on a Curtis Mead sacrifice fly. Jordan Qsar added two runs in the sixth inning with a homer to bring the Hot Rods within one run, but the offense couldn't muster any more runs, dropping the game 10-3.

Chasing Records... Jordan Qsar hit his 17th homer of the season on Sunday, tying him for fourth with Phillip Wunderlich ('11). Grant Witherspoon is just behind him with 16, which is tied for fifth in a single-season with Kevin Padlo ('16). Witherspoon is also climbing up the career RBI rankings, sitting at second place with 106 in a Hot Rods uniform. Tyler Goedell set the current record with 111 between 2012 and 2013.

Player Movement... After a two-week road trip, the Hot Rods return home with some new faces. C Blake Hunt, SS Greg Jones, and RHP Colby White all received promotions to AA Montgomery. With the call-ups, Bowling Green added LHP Trey Cumbie, C Logan Driscoll, INF Brett Wisely. Cumbie spent time with Bowling Green in 2019, posting a 3.06 ERA with a 2-1 record over 17 appearances. Roberto Alvarez will also be rejoining the team after being activated from the IL. He last played for Bowling Green on May 23rd. The Hot Rods active roster is now at 28 players.

Leaving the Park... Bowling Green has already shattered their previous home run record, which was 106 set back in 2011. The Hot Rods added 40 homers in the month of July, keeping pace with the best power-hitting teams in the MiLB. Bowling Green is currently fifth among minor league teams in homers, racking up 134. The next closest High-A team is the Greensboro Grasshoppers, who sit in sixth place for MiLB homers with 130.

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.

Sunday's Notes... Qsar leads the team with 17 homers this season... He's tied with Witherspoon for the most homers in a Hot Rods career... McKendry logged his first pickoff of the season during the fourth inning... It's the fifth pickoff for a Hot Rods player and the fourth by a pitcher in 2021... Bowling Green has struck out 10 or more times in 16 of the last 17 games... They K'd in 5 of the six games against Wilmington... Sunday marked the team's third-straight day with a homer... BG finishes their road trip 9-3...

Now pitching: Miller Hogan... Hogan is set to make his third start for Bowling Green this season. He has made 21 appearances overall, pitching 41.0 innings on the year. Hogan is coming off of a month of July where he finished with a 1.38 ERA over 13.0 innings pitched. He struck out 15 batters over that span while walking none. Overall this season he has struck out 42 batters and walked just seven.

Check out the Bowling Green Hot Rods Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from August 10, 2021


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