Hot Rods Lose Second Straight with 6-1 Setback on Friday
May 21, 2021 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
Rome, Georgia - The Bowling Green Hot Rods (10-6) fell to the Rome Braves (10-6) to force a tie atop the High-A East South Division standings after a 6-1 loss Friday night at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, Georgia. The two teams will play the penultimate game of the series on Saturday with a 6:00 PM CT first pitch.
The Braves scored in the bottom of the first inning off Hot Rods starter Michael Mercado. Riley Delgado singled with one out and scored on a Michael Harris double, giving the Braves an early 1-0 edge. The Braves plated another in the fifth to extend their lead to 2-0, while the Hot Rods bats were held to three hits over those five frames.
Bowling Green reliever Michael Costanzo entered the game and surrendered singles to Logan Brown and Jesse Franklin to lead off the inning. With two outs, Brett Langhorne hit a fly ball to center field where Hot Rods centerfielder Grant Witherspoon missed the catch for an error, scoring two. Langhorne came around to score on Kevin Josephina's RBI single, handing Rome a 5-0 lead.
The Hot Rods drove in their lone run of the game in the top of the seventh after Jonathan Aranda led off with a double. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and after Rome called on reliever Davis Schwab, Jordan Qsar brought home Aranda with a grounder to first base, cutting Bowling Green's deficit to 5-1. Rome tacked on a sixth run in the eighth and went on to win 6-1.
Mercado (0-2) threw 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Costanzo allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits and walk. Ezequiel Zabaleta pitched a perfect one inning with two strikeouts.
Notes: Mercado tied Jayden Murray for most innings pitched for a Hot Rods starter with 5.0... Aranda had his fifth multi-hit game of the season... Qsar had his fourth multi-hit game of the season...Hot Rods are 7-3 in games decided by four or more runs... Bowling Green is now 2-1 on Fridays... Until the first inning of tonight's game BG pitching had not allowed an earned run in games played on Fridays... After hitting 19 home runs through 12 games, Bowling Green has been homerless through the first four games against Rome... The Hot Rods offense has struck out 10 or more times in 12 of 16 games this season... That's a K/9 of 12.4 for opposing pitchers... The Hot Rods and Braves play game five of the six game series on Saturday... First pitch will be at 6:00 PM CT... Bowling Green will send RH Peyton Battenfield (1-0, 0.00) against RH Tanner Gordon (0-0, 2.79)... Fans can catch all of the action through the MiLB First Pitch app, tuning into WBGN 94.5 FM and 1340 AM, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.
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