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MWL1 Bowling Green Hot Rods

Hot Rods Hold off Cedar Rapids' Rally

August 7, 2015 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release


Bowling Green, Ky. - Bowling Green secured its first win in the month of August and snapped an eight-game road losing streak in a 7-5 win in front of 3,850 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday evening.

In snapping a five-game skid, Bowling Green (20-21, 57-54) triumphed for the first time since July 31 and took its first road tilt since July 18 at Lake County, while Cedar Rapids (23-17, 64-47) dropped its fifth game over the last nine. With the Hot Rods up 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, reliever Edwin Fierro entered for Bowling Green and promptly loaded the bases on the first three batters - an Edgar Corcino infield single, a Zach Larson walk and a T.J. White hit by pitch. Fierro then fanned Tyler Kuresa and Brian Navarreto consecutively before getting pinch-hitter Brett Doe to flyout to Bralin Jackson in deep left-centerfield to leave the bases loaded, clinch the victory and earn Fierro his first save of the season.

Kernels' starter Randy Rosario surrendered a pair of unearned runs to Bowling Green in the top of the first inning, in which Cedar Rapids committed three errors. Riley Unroe reached safely on a fielder's choice, and while he was picked off first with Grant Kay batting, first baseman Kuresa's throw hit Unroe while running to second and dribbled towards third for the inning's first error. Kay then singled off Rosario's left leg with one out to put runners at the corners for Justin Williams, whose bouncer to the mound was fielded by Rosario but his toss to second was dropped by keystoner Rafael Valera resulting in Williams reaching first and Unroe scoring on the missed catch error for the 1-0 Hot Rods' lead. Jackson delivered Kay on a fielder's choice that was mishandled by Kuresa for his second error of the frame to make it 2-0 Hot Rods.

Cedar Rapids tied the game in the bottom of the third, however, against Bowling Green starter Chris Pike, when Rafael Valera singled with one out, and Nick Gordon hit his first home run of the season with two outs, a towering skyscraper to right that left the park, tying the game at 2-2.

It remained tied until the top of the sixth, when Bowling Green erupted for five runs, ignited by Nick Ciuffo's line drive double down the right-field line with one out and Coty Blanchard's soft line drive through the left of the drawn-in infield scoring Ciuffo and also resulting in a double with Blanchard hustling to second for a 3-2 advantage. Alec Sole scored Blanchard on a RBI double of his own, putting the Hot Rods up by two runs again at 4-2. Following a two-out walk to Unroe, Rosario was lifted for reliever Jared Wilson, who walked Kay on four pitches to load the sacks for Williams, who clocked his 25th double of the season to the alley in left-centerfield that cleared the bases and made for a 7-2 cushion.

Rosario (1-3) was tagged for nine hits and six runs - four earned - despite just one walk and five strikeouts in his third loss in six Midwest League starts since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Pike (9-5) snapped a personal three-game losing streak and became the first Hot Rod since Chris Kirsch last year to win nine games in a single season after 6.0 frames of five-hit, two-run baseball, walking three and striking out two in picking up his first win since July 12. Kyle Bird relieved Pike, but ran into immediate trouble, facing seven batters in his first inning of work and allowing six hits and three runs over 2.0 innings. Two-out RBI singles in the seventh from Larson and White, and Tanner English's sacrifice fly in the eighth brought Cedar Rapids within 7-5.

After scoring five runs during the five game losing streak and knocking just 13 total hits in the three-game sweep at Quad Cities, Bowling Green registered 12 hits in the lid-lifter, with Sole leading the offensive charge in a 3-for-4 night with a double (one of five the Hot Rods had as a team, four of which came in the five-run sixth), while Thomas Milone, Kay and Blanchard each notched two-hit games and Williams added three RBI.

Jose Mujica (0-1, 3.71) looks to bounce back from his first loss of the season in his last start in Saturday's 5:05 p.m. CDT start, squaring off against Cedar Rapids' Australian right-hander Sam Gibbons (5-2, 3.14), the reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week following his complete game shutout of Kane County on Aug. 1.

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