Lowe's walk-off homer spoils Aiken's strong start

(Bowling Green, KY) - Brady Aiken enjoyed a solid night on the mound and left the game with the lead on Tuesday at Bowling Green Ballpark. After he exited, however, the Bowling Green Hot Rods (32-19, 63-55) rallied from behind and ultimately defeated the Lake County Captains (22-29, 49-71) on a ninth-inning walk-off home run by Josh Lowe. Lowe's leadoff homer against Cesar Ventura sailed over the right-centerfield wall and lifted the Hot Rods to a 5-4 victory.
Aiken battled a tough Bowling Green lineup for 5.2 innings and only surrendered two runs. The southpaw worked around a bases loaded situation in the first inning and escaped unscathed. Bowling Green drew first blood in the second inning, however. Emilio Gustave hit a solo homer to left field with two outs to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead.

Lake County answered in the top of the third and took the lead. Jorma Rodriguez began the frame by singling against Hot Rods starter Spencer Moran and Todd Isaacs followed with a single back up the middle. Alexis Pantoja came up next and bunted toward third base. Adrian Rondon barehanded the ball and threw to first, but his throw sailed wide of Robbie Tenerowicz at first. Rodriguez scored the tying run and Isaacs moved to third. Conner Capel then grounded into a double play, but Isaacs scored on the twin-killing to give Lake County a 2-1 lead.
Bowling Green knotted the score in the bottom of the third. Lowe led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Jesús Sánchez. Lowe then scored the tying run on a wild pitch to level the score at 2-2.
Aiken kept the Hot Rods' bats quiet the next few innings, allowing the Captains to re-gain the lead.. After Lowe touched home to tie the game, Aiken responded by stranding two men in scoring position and followed that up with a perfect fourth. The lefty then gave up one single in a scoreless fifth.
Lake County took the lead in a wild sixth inning. Capel led off and popped a pitch into foul ground on the third base side. Rondon over-ran the foul pop and Capel stayed alive. The reigning Midwest League Player of the Week then laced a leadoff double into the gap in left-centerfield. Following Capel's double, Tenerowicz and Rondon began to argue on the field and the shouting match prompted Hot Rods Manager Reinaldo Ruiz to pull both players from the game. Bobby Melley came in to replace Tenerowicz and play first, while Miles Mastrobuoni replaced Rondon. Mastrobuoni played second base and Jim Haley slid over from second to third base, as the inning continued.
After the dust settled, Mitch Longo came up and slammed a double into the left-centerfield gap that scored Capel with the go-ahead run. Later in the frame, Longo raced home to score on a wild pitch that barely trickled away from catcher Rene Pinto. The pair of runs put the Captains back in front, 4-2.
Aiken pitched into the sixth, but could not finish the frame. After walking Melley to lead off the inning, he got Mastrobuoni to bounce back to the mound and Aiken started a 1-6-3 double play. Aiken then faced Haley and gave up a soft infield single that ended the southpaw's night.
Ventura came in and allowed the Hot Rods to load the bases on a double by Gustave and a walk to Luis Rengifo, but the right-hander escaped the inning by getting Lowe to fly out to centerfield. That gave Aiken a final line of 5.2 innings pitched with two runs on seven hits. He struck out five, walked three and left the game as the pitcher of record with the Captains on top by two runs.
The Hot Rods slowly climbed back to tie the game. Sanchez hit an opposite-field solo homer to left field in the seventh that brought Bowling Green within one run. In the eighth, the Hot Rods tied the score. Mastrobuoni worked a leadoff walk and then took off for second base. Logan Ice whipped a throw to second, but his heave skipped into centerfield and Mastrobuoni landed on third. Two batters later, Gustave hit a tailing line drive to right field and Longo made a stunning diving grab toward the line, but Mastrobuoni tagged up from third and scored the tying run, evening the score at 4-4.
The Captains had a chance to score in the top of the ninth. Isaacs and Pantoja hit back-to-back two-out singles to put runners on the corners with two outs. Reliever Joe Serrapica got out of the jam, however. He got Capel to fly out to centerfield to end the threat.
Lowe led off the bottom of the ninth for Bowling Green and sent a 2-2 pitch from Ventura over the tall right-centerfield wall for a game-winning home run. It was the Hot Rods' first walk-off home run this season and their second walk-off win against the Captains.
Serrapica (2-1) picked up the win in relief after pitching one scoreless inning. He gave up two hits, did not walk a batter and did not record a strikeout.
Ventura (0-1) suffered the loss. The right-hander pitched 2.1 innings and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on three hits. Ventura struck out two and walked two.
The Captains have dropped the first two games of their three-game series at Bowling Green. They face the Hot Rods again on Wednesday night. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark is scheduled for 7:35 PM.
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 2017 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.