Bowling Green Hot Rods Lose 7-0 To Asheville Tourists

[Via email from the Bowling Green Hot Rods' broadcaster Tom Gauthier.]

On a day when thousands of school kids filled Bowling Green Ballpark with noise, the Hot Rods’ bats were kept quiet in a 7-0 loss to the Asheville Tourists (39-23, 65-66). By virtue of the win the Tourists took two of three in the series, dropping the Hot Rods (29-32, 63-68) to 2-5 on the seven-game home stand. Bowling Green still won the season series against the Tourists, winning seven of 13 match-ups.

After a pitcher’s duel took place for the first four innings, the Tourists finally broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth. Starter Shane Dyer (1-10) hit the lead-off man Carlos Martinez before making an errant pick-off throw to first, moving Martinez to second. Dyer retired the next two batters before Kiel Roling single to center to score Martinez for a 1-0 Asheville lead.

Dyer left the game after the next batter reached on an error by Jeremy Beckham to put runners at first and second. He was replaced by Joey Callender, who made his Hot Rods debut after being called up from Princeton in the Appalachian League. Jimmy Cesario greeted Callender with an RBI single to center to score the second run of the inning.

Both runs were unearned against Dyer, who worked 4.2 innings in his first start since July 9. He allowed six hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out five.

The Hot Rods, meanwhile, missed some early opportunities against Jonathan Aristil (4-8). They left on four runners over the first three innings before Aristil settled in. He went the distance, throwing the first nine-inning complete game of his career. He allowed just two base hits from the fourth through the ninth, facing just one batter above the minimum. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter while striking out three.

Asheville broke the game open with four runs in the seventh against Callender. Jimmy Cesario sparked that rally with a three-run homer. Kiel Roling added a solo blast, his 20th, against Callender in the top of the ninth to cap the scoring.

The Hot Rods managed just six hits on the game, two of them by Anthony Scelfo. Tim Beckham went 0-4 to end his 13-game hitting streak. During the 13-game run, Beckham was 22-55, good for a .400 average.

Bowling Green now hits the road for the final road trip of the season. They’ll begin a three-game series with the Greenville Drive (Boston Red Sox) on Tuesday night in South Carolina. LHP Frank De Los Santos (4-9, 3.87) starts the road trip for the Hot Rods against Greenville RHP Brock Huntzinger (8-9, 4.40). First pitch is at 6:05 PM CDT. You can follow the game on the radio beginning at 6:20 PM with Tom Gauthier on 1340 WBGN and www.bghotrods.com.

The Hot Rods return home for their final home stand on Friday night against the Lexington Legends (Houston Astros), the final meeting with the Bluegrass rivals. Friday night is Faith and Family Night presented by Christian Family Radio. For a complete list of Friday’s events as well as tickets and a full promotional schedule, visit www.bghotrods.com.