Bowling Green Fumbles Early Lead, Drop Finale to Greenville 12-6

Greenville, South Carolina – Junior Caminero gave the Bowling Green Hot Rods (18-19) a 5-4 lead with a solo homer in the fourth, but the Greenville Drive (19-19) unloaded for eight unanswered runs to complete a 12-6 win on Sunday at Fluor Field.

The Drive offense jumped out early in the bottom of the first off Hot Rods starter Keyshawn Askew. Eddinson Paulino walked, and Brainer Bonaci singled to put runners at first and second. Bryan Gonzalez singled to score Paulino and hand Greenville a 1-0 lead.

Bowling Green responded in the top of the second against Greenville starter Wikelman Gonzalez. Jeffry Parra walked, Jalen Battles and Nate Soria singled to load the bases. Brock Jones laced a base hit to right, plating Parra and Battles to put the Hot Rods up 2-1. The Drive took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run homer off the bat of Ronald Rosario.

In the top of the third, Nick Schnell led off with a single and scored on a triple by Dru Baker that made it a 4-3 ballgame. Baker was plated on a RBI groundout from Blake Robertson to tie the game at 4-4. Caminero collected a 5-4 lead for Bowling Green with a solo shot in the top of the fourth.

Greenville tied the game back up in the bottom of the fourth off Bowling Green reliever Alfredo Zarraga. Eduardo Lopez tripled and scored on an RBI single from Nick Decker to move the score to 5-5. In the bottom of the fifth, the Drive took the lead when Hot Rods reliever Sandy Gaston entered the game. Lopez, Decker, and Rosario all worked walks to load the bases. A fielding error by Willy Vasquez allowed Lopez and Decker to score, handing Greenville a 7-5 lead.

The Drive offense opened it up off Hot Rods reliever Antonio Jimenez in the bottom of the eighth. Bonaci blasted a three-run homer and Tyler Miller smacked a two-RBI double that made it a seven-run ballgame. Vasquez notched an RBI groundout in the ninth off Greenville reliever Alex Hoppe, but Bowling Green was shut down after that to lose by a score of 12-6

Joe Jones (3-0) picked up the win, tossing 1.1 perfect frames while striking out three and walking one. Zarraga (1-2) collected the loss, allowing a run on four hits and three strikeouts over 2.0 innings. Hoppe (1) earned the save, letting up a run on two hits and three strikeouts over 1.1 innings.

Bowling Green enjoys an off-day Monday before starting a six game series in Greensboro, North Carolina against the Grasshoppers. Tuesday’s first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 PM CT and fans can catch all the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch App, tuning into Talk 104.1 FM and 930 AM WKCT, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.

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Hot Rods Baseball