Cardenas homers in loss to Hot Rods

(Eastlake, OH) - The Bowling Green Hot Rods (23-18) ended the Lake County Captains' (23-16) four-game winning streak on Friday night at Classic Park. Behind a three-run fifth inning, the Hot Rods won the game, 3-1.

Both starting pitchers, Shane McClanahan for Bowling Green and Raymond Burgos for Lake County, found themselves in the midst of a pitcher's duel early on. The pair kept their opposing offenses off the scoreboard through the first three innings.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Rueben Cardenas ambushed the first pitch of the inning. Cardenas drove McClanahan's offering over the right-field wall for his third home run of the year to give Lake County the 1-0 lead.
The Captains' lead did not last long. Bowling Green scored its only three runs of the ballgame in the top of the fifth. After shutting out the Hot Rods through the first four innings, Burgos walked the lead-off hitter, Grant Witherspoon, and the very next hitter, Roberto Alvarez, singled to right field. Michael Smith dropped down a sacrifice bunt and Witherspoon and Alvarez each moved up one base. Osmy Gregorio then hit Burgos' 0-2 pitch up the middle, scoring Witherspoon and Alvarez to give Bowling Green the 2-1 advantage.
Captains Pitching Coach Owen Dew visited Burgos on the mound after the two-RBI single from Gregorio. Athletic Trainer Patrick Reynolds and Manager Luke Carlin soon joined Dew, and Burgos was lifted from the game. Aaron Pinto entered the one-out, one-on scenario and struck out the first batter he faced, Beau Brundage. However, Gregorio stole second on the third-strike pitch and later stole third on Pinto's fourth ball to Connor Hollis. Ford Proctor provided the third and final run of the fifth inning for Bowling Green with a two-out single, bringing Gregorio home to increase the Hot Rods' lead to 3-1.
The three-run fifth inning proved to be enough for Bowling Green, as the pitching staff shut out the Captains' offense the rest of the way. McClanahan pitched 5.2 strong innings and even struck out seven out of eight batters from the fourth to the sixth inning, including five in a row. Bowling Green relievers Cristofer Ogando and Joel Peguero combined to throw 3.1 shut out innings of their own. Peguero earned his second save of the year after spinning two scoreless and hitless innings with two strikeouts and one walk.
McClanahan (3-3) earned the victory for Bowling Green. He held the Captains to five hits and just one run over 5.2 innings. The left-hander tied a career-high with nine strikeouts and walked only three batters.
Burgos (2-1) suffered the loss for Lake County. He allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits over his 4.1 innings of work. The lefty also struck out six and only allowed one walk.
The Captains are back in action on Saturday night with game three of a four-game series against the Hot Rods. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.