Kirsch Clutch as Hot Rods Speed Past Hawks

May 31, 2014 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


The Bowling Green Hot Rods (26-29) continued their mastery of the South Bend Silver Hawks (34-21) this season with a 10-1 victory on Saturday night at Four Winds Field. Lefty Chris Kirsch (W, 3-5) dominated the Hawks over 7 innings and a 2-run double in the second inning by designated hitter Johnny Field gave the Hot Rods all the offense they needed to run their record to 9-3 against South Bend this season.

Bowling Green, the Class-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, got on the board early and never looked back. With one out in the top of the second inning, shortstop Pat Blair reached on an E-4 throwing by second baseman Jamie Westbrook. Center fielder Yoel Araujo followed with a single to right that put runners at first and second. Austin Platt (L, 0-1) struck out first baseman Alexander Simon for the second out of the inning but Field laced a two run double to right to give the Hot Rods the 2-0 lead before being thrown out at third as he tried to stretch it into a triple.

The Hot Rods added a third run in the top of the fourth. Third baseman Ty Young led off with a single. With one out, Blair doubled to center to put runners at second and third. With the infield in, Araujo hit a grounder into the shortstop hole. Hawks' shortstop Andrew Velazquez made a good play to field it and throw Araujo out at first but Young came in to score on the play and give the Hot Rods a 3-0 lead.

Bowling Green kept on adding to their lead throughout the game as a pair of runs in the top of the sixth stretched it to 5-0. Young was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning on a bunt attempt. Catcher Oscar Hernandez tripled into the right-center field to score Young. Araujo followed with a single to left that scored Hernandez and gave Bowling Green a 5-0 lead. That ended Platt's night as he struggled in his return to the Silver Hawks. Tom Jameson came on in relief of Platt and escaped the inning with no further damage.

The Hot Rods added yet another run in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs, left fielder Granden Goetzman singled down the third base line to left. Young hit into a fielder's choice to short but Goetzman was able to beat Velazquez to the bag at second and everyone was safe on the play. Hernandez made the Hawks pay for the sloppy defense as he singled to right, driving home Goetzman for a 6-0 lead.

South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, only threatened to score against Kirsch once all game. In the bottom of the seventh, left fielder Zach Esquerra beat out a grounder to second for an infield single. Third baseman Marty Herum then drilled a double to the left-center field gap. Esquerra roared around third and tried to score on the play but was thrown out at the plate by Goetzman with a nice relay throw by Blair at short. Kirsch pitched 7 dominant innings, allowing just three hits. He has now thrown 19 innings against the Hawks this season and allowed just 5 earned runs (2.37 ERA) and 12 hits while pitching to a 5.46 ERA with 38 hits allowed in 31.1 IP against the rest of the league.

The Hot Rods continued to blow out the Hawks with four more runs in the top of the eighth. Araujo beat out an infield single and Simon singled to right to put runners at first and second with no outs. Field lined a single to right to load the bases. Second baseman Kean Wong hit into a fielder's choice to short that scored a run and left runners at the corners with one out. Jake Roberts came on in relief of Jameson. He induced an infield popup to short for the second out of the inning. Goetzman then beat out an infield single to second that scored the second run of the inning and the eighth run of the night for the Hot Rods. Young singled to right on a ball that took a bad hop in front of Steve McQuail at first to score Wong to make it 9-0. A wild pitch by Roberts brought home Goetzman with the 10th and final run of the game for Bowling Green.

The only suspense remaining in the game at that point was whether or not Velazquez could keep his hitting streak alive. He entered the game with a 22-game hitting streak, the longest in the Midwest League this season but was hitless in three plate appearances going into the bottom of the eighth. He struck out on a 2-2 high fastball when he was judged to have gone around on the check swing by the first base umpire. Velazquez was not pleased with the call and between innings was ejected from the game. This brought South Bend manager Mark Haley over to protect his player and he too was thrown out of the game.

Ian Kendall entered in the bottom of the eighth for the Hot Rods and proceeded to close out the game. He tossed a perfect eighth inning before surrendering a run on a misplayed grounder to third with one out in the ninth. Right fielder Stryker Trahan drove in second baseman Jamie Westbrook for the only run of the game for the Hawks.

The Hawks and Hot Rods meet up again tomorrow for a Sunday matinee with first pitch scheduled at 2:05pm. Ryne Stanek (1-2, 2.95 ERA) gets the start for Bowling Green while Josh Slaats will make his Midwest League debut for the Silver Hawks. It's Family and Swoop Troop Day at Four Winds Field with a pre-game catch on the field beginning at 1:15pm and a post-game autograph session. The first 750 fans through the gate tomorrow will receive a free Silver Hawks baseball cap. There will be free wine tastings as well, sponsored by Gallo Barefoot Wine. Finally, there is a special appearance at the ballpark tomorrow as Steve Beuerlein will be in attendance. Beuerlein had a 17-year NFL career and won Super Bowl XXVII with the Dallas Cowboys as well as leading the NFL in passing yards in 1999 as he made the Pro Bowl that season.



Midwest League Stories from May 31, 2014


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