Hernandez powers Hot Rods past Captains

(Eastlake, OH) - Ronaldo Hernandez had a monster day at the plate to lead the Bowling Green Hot Rods (46-22) to a 5-1 victory over the Lake County Captains (29-40) on Saturday at Classic Park. Hernandez homered twice and doubled to propel Bowling Green to its franchise record-tying 10^th consecutive win.
Hernandez began his assault on Lake County in the second inning. Leading off the frame against Captains starter Gregori Vasquez , the Hot Rods catcher pulled a hard line drive off the top of the left field wall for a double. Devin Davis followed with a two-run homer into the left field bleachers to give Bowling Green a 2-0 lead.

Lake County answered in the bottom of the third. With two outs and nobody aboard, Tyler Friis launched his third homer to right field to cut the Hot Rods' lead to one run. Hernandez, however, quickly struck again.
In the top of the fourth, Hernandez again led off the frame against Vasquez. After his first liner just missed clearing the wall, Hernandez made no mistake in his second at-bat of the night. He launched a drive halfway up the left field bleachers to give the Hot Rods a 3-1 lead.
Hernandez was not done. Bowling Green rallied again against Vasquez in the sixth. Carl Chester led off with a single and Zach Rutherford followed with a single to put runners on first and second. With Hernandez at the plate, Vasquez threw a pitch in the dirt and Chester took off for third. Captains catcher Jonathan Laureano made a sliding block to his right and fired to third to nab Chester. Hernandez had one fewer baserunner with which to do damage, but he still belted a two-run shot to the left-centerfield berm for his second two-homer game of the season. Bowling Green grabbed a 5-1 lead. Hernandez finished 3-for-4 with two homers, a double and three RBI.
Hot Rods starter Tobias Myers pitched six strong innings en route to the win. Myers (8-3) allowed just one run on five hits. He walked a pair and struck out five.
Vasquez (2-3) suffered the loss. The right-hander pitched 7.2 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits, including three homers. He walked two and struck out one. All runs for both teams came on home runs.
Though Bowling Green held the Captains to just one run, Lake County produced a pair of multi-hit games. Nolan Jones led Lake County with a 3-for-3 night. He had three singles and also reached on a walk. Laureano singled twice in a 2-for-4 effort.
Bowling Green's 10-game winning streak is the club's second such streak of the season. The Hot Rods also won 10 in a row from April 28 to May 8, including two games against the Captains. Lake County will try to avoid a sweep in the final game of the first half on Sunday. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
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.