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Captains fall to first half champs

Hot Rods edge Lake County, 5-2
Nolan Jones hit his seventh home run of the year on Friday against Bowling Green. (Alicia Falorio)
June 15, 2018

(Eastlake, OH) - Riding high after a three-game sweep of Lansing, the Lake County Captains (29-39) ran into a buzz saw on Friday night at Classic Park. Lake County dropped the opener of their three-game series against the Eastern Division's first half champions, the Bowling Green Hot Rods (45-22), 5-2.

(Eastlake, OH) - Riding high after a three-game sweep of Lansing, the Lake County Captains (29-39) ran into a buzz saw on Friday night at Classic Park. Lake County dropped the opener of their three-game series against the Eastern Division's first half champions, the Bowling Green Hot Rods (45-22), 5-2. The Hot Rods extended their winning streak to nine straight games.
Hot Rods starter Tommy Romero was brilliant over seven innings. Making his fourth start since being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays' organization from the Seattle Mariners, the right-hander held the Captains to just two runs on four hits. Romero (6-3), who picked up the win, struck out a season-high tying eight and walked one.

Both of the Captains' runs came on solo homers and it was Ulysses Cantu who struck first. With one out in the bottom of the third and nobody aboard, Cantu lifted a fly ball into the left field bleachers. His seventh home run of the year gave the Captains a 1-0 lead.
Captains starter Juan Hillman was practically untouchable the first time through the Hot Rods' order. He allowed just one hit and faced the minimum through the first three frames. Carl Chester had the lone hit in the second inning, but Hillman picked him off of first following a single. In the fourth, however, the Hot Rods came back.
Vidal Brujan led off the fourth with an infield single and Moises Gomez followed two batters later with a single of his own. Centerfielder Todd Isaacs fielded Gomez's single and fired to third base, but Brujan slid in safely and Gomez hustled to second on the throw. Hillman then spiked a pitch that kicked off of catcher Joshua Rolette for a wild pitch, allowing Brujan to score the tying run and Gomez to move to third. Ronaldo Hernandez continued the rally with a single to left field that scored Gomez with the go-ahead run and Captains left fielder Oscar Gonzalez mishandled the ball, letting it roll under his glove and all the way to the warning track. Hernandez raced to third on the error and came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Chester to give Bowling Green a 3-1 lead.
Lake County got one run back in the sixth. Nolan Jones blasted an opposite-field home run to left-center. His seventh long ball of the year trimmed the Hot Rods' lead to one run, but Bowling Green answered in the seventh.
The Hot Rods scored two runs off of Hillman in the seventh on a trio of doubles. Chester led off the inning with a double to the gap in left-center. Two batters later, Adrian Rondon doubled to center to score Chester. The next hitter, Mac Seibert, floated a ball off the end of his bat down the right field line for another RBI double, scoring Rondon to give Bowling Green a 5-2 lead.
The Captains rallied in the bottom of the ninth against right-handed reliever Orlando Romero and brought the tying run to the plate. Tyler Friis walked to start the inning and Jones hit a fly ball to left field that Gomez appeared to lose track of. The ball landed on the warning track for a double and the Captains had runners on second and third with nobody out. Romero then punched out Gonzalez and Jonathan Laureano looking before getting Will Benson to bounce out to second to end the game. Romero picked up his first save of the year, pitching two scoreless innings. Between the eighth and ninth he gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three.
Hillman (0-8) took the loss. The lefty pitched 6.2 innings and allowed five runs - four earned - on seven hits. Hillman struck out four and walked one.
The Captains' modest three-game winning streak came to an end and they will try to snap the Hot Rods' nine-game streak in game two of this three-game series. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-<st1:stockticker w:st="on">WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.