Battenfield K’s Nine, Cardenas Homers in 5-1 Win

Bowling Green, Kentucky– Peyton Battenfield struck out a career-high nine batters over four innings of work for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (5-2) in a 5-1 victory over the Asheville Tourists (3-3) on Tuesday night at Bowling Green Ballpark. The Hot Rods and Tourists will play the second game of their six-game series on Wednesday night with a 6:35 PM first pitch.

Battenfield breezed through the Tourists lineup in his second start of the season for Bowling Green. The righty struck out a career-high nine in his four shutout and hitless innings of work, holding the line for the Hot Rods offense to break onto the scoreboard.

Bowling Green scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning against Jose Bravo, who started for Asheville. Blake Hunt led off the inning with a walk, and one out later, Ruben Cardenas hit a home run to right field. The Hot Rods took a 2-0 lead thanks to Cardenas’ second long ball of the season.

The first three batters Evan McKendry faced reached by double, walk, and single. A.J. Lee rolled into a double play, scoring Alex Holderbach from third to plate Asheville’s lone run of the night. McKendry got a ground ball from Ramiro Rodriguez to strand a runner at second.

In the bottom half of the sixth, against Blaire Henley, Bowling Green drove in another run to extend their lead. Edwards led off with a single and Cardenas followed with a single of his own, moving Edwards to third base. Grant Witherspoon grounded into a double play that scored Edwards that gave BG a 3-1 edge.

The Hot Rods tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth and went on to win 5-1 in the opening game of the series.

Battenfield struck out nine over 4.0 innings of work without allowing a run or a hit in a no-decision. McKendry also went 4.0 innings while allowing one earned run on three hits with two K’s in his second win of the season. Christopher Gau pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Notes: Battenfield had a career-high nine strikeouts… He and McKendry’s 4.0 innings of work tie a team-high for both innings by a reliever and a starter this season… Battenfield has a team-high 8.0 inning shutout streak… His k/9 through two starts is 16.88 this season… Cardenas had three hits for the second time this season… He also has a four-game hit streak… Cardenas has scored a run in all six games he’s played in this season… Hunt has a three-game hit streak… He also had his second two-hit game of the season… It ties his career-high for the 12th time… Bowling Green is 8-6 all-time against Asheville dating back to the 2009 season… The Hot Rods are 4-3 at home in the all-time series… BG had lost their last two games against Asheville that year… The Hot Rods and Tourists will play the second game of the series on Wednesday… The Hot Rods will send RH Zack Trageton (0-0, 0.00) to the mound against Tourists RH Danny Cody (0-0, 3.00)… It’s Weiner and White Claw Wednesday… Fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs and $3 White Claws during the game… First pitch will be at 6:35 PM CT… 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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