The Bowling Green Hot Rods came into McCormick Field on Tuesday night with a statement. The first-half Southern division champions moved to 4-0 on the season against the Asheville Tourists with a 14-5 series opening win.
The Tourists fell behind 3-0 during the Hot Rods’ first two innings before Luis Santana scored Luis Guerrerowith an RBI single in the bottom of the second. Bowling Green then built their lead out to five runs at 6-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Deury Carrasco clubbed a solo Home Run and Marty Costos lined an RBI single into left field that cut the deficit to three. It was as close as the Tourists would come the rest of the game.
Bowling Green sent 13 batters to the plate and recorded eight runs on seven hits in the sixth inning alone. With the score at 14-3 Asheville began to tackle small victories. One of those came in the bottom of the sixth when Santana smacked another RBI single and Quincy Hamilton plated a run on a Fielder’s Choice.
The bullpen combination of Jose Betances and Jacob Coats pitched the final 3.2 innings for Asheville and allowed a combined one run.
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Written by Doug Maurer, Asheville Tourists.