Tissenbaum's Four RBIs Carry TinCaps to Win

Bowling Green, KY - Led by a season-high four RBI from Maxx Tissenbaum, the TinCaps beat the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 7-4, Monday afternoon at Bowling Green Ballpark. With the win, Fort Wayne avoided being swept by Bowling Green for the second time in two weeks.

Tissenbaum's first two RBIs came with the TinCaps trailing 1-0 in the top of the second inning. The left-handed batting second baseman laced the first pitch he saw from Reinaldo Lopez (7-5) down the left-field line for a double to give Fort Wayne (25-37, 69-63) its first lead of the series.

The TinCaps increased their lead to 4-1 in the top of the third inning. Hunter Renfroe came up with a two-out single to bring up Gabriel Quintana. The 20-year-old took advantage of his at-bat by belting a two-run home run that hugged the left-field line. It was his ninth long ball of the year.

Bowling Green (38-25, 76-55) leadoff batter Andrew Toles doubled, stole third base, and came in to score in both the first and third innings. A Leonardo Reginatto single and Joey Rickard sacrifice fly produced the runs.

But with Tissenbaum in the mix again, Fort Wayne stretched its advantage to 7-2 in the top of the fifth. Renfroe doubled home Reynaldo Bruguera, who had walked. Then after Lopez also walked Alberth Martinez and Luis Tejada to load the bases with two outs, Tissenbaum singled to score a pair. Entering Monday, Tissenbaum had driven in four runs all of August, a month in which he previously spent 11 days on the disabled list.  

The Hot Rods scored for a third time in the bottom of the fifth inning after Patrick Leonard and Brandon Martin drew walks. A fielder's choice groundout by Toles moved Leonard to third, where he was driven in by Rickard's second sac fly of the game.

That's all the scoring Bowling Green could do against Colin Rea (1-1), who earned his first win with the TinCaps since Game 2 of the 2012 Midwest League Championship Series at Wisconsin last September. The 6'5" right-hander struck out five in his five innings to help the TinCaps end a two-game skid.

Matthew Shepherd tossed two perfect innings of relief for the TinCaps followed by a scoreless inning from Kentucky native Trevor Gott. Although he allowed two doubles to score a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, Roman Madrid recorded the final three outs of the game.

After a day off Tuesday, Fort Wayne plays a doubleheader on the road at West Michigan Wednesday. Joe Ross starts Game 1 (6:05 p.m.) for the TinCaps against Jordan John for the Whitecaps. Game 2 features Walker Weickel versus Jake Thompson. Both games can be heard on The Fan 1380 and TheFanFortWayne.com.