Saturday, August 29, 2009

Bowling Green Hot Rods Lose 6-2 To West Virginia Power

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

Tim Beckham picked up a single in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games on Friday night at Bowling Green Ballpark. He ended up scoring the inning, providing one of two Hot Rods runs in a 6-2 loss to the West Virginia Power (34-33, 61-66). Bowling Green (28-30, 62-66) dropped three of four games to the Power, watching their playoff elimination number sink to just two with the first place Asheville Tourists coming in on Saturday night.

Beckham’s single took place in the bottom of the fourth after West Virginia scored three times in the top half of the inning. Facing Aaron Pribanic (3-1) Beckham smoked a lined single to left field to begin the inning, extending his streak in his second at-bat. He then began to steal his way around the bases, swiping second and third before scoring on an infield single by Isaias Velasquez to make it a 3-1 game.

Bowling Green left two runners on in that inning, spoiling their best opportunity against Pribanic. He would end up working six innings, allowing just the one run on five hits. He struck out two and didn’t walk anyone, holding the Hot Rods to just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Beckham, the Koch Air Hottest Hitter, finished the night 1-4 with a single, two steals, and another run. He has scored 13 times in August, tied for the team lead with Velasquez. During his hitting streak, the 19-year-old shortstop has 20 hits in 45 at-bats for a remarkable .444 average. It’s the second ten-game-plus hit streak for Beckham, who was 15-41 (.366) during a ten-game run in May.

Juan Santana (0-1) took the loss making his second spot start of the season. He allowed just one base runner through the first three innings before giving up a lead-off walk in the fourth. The base-on-balls was immediately followed by an RBI triple from Tony Sanchez and a two-run home run by Kyle Morgan to knock Santana from the game.

Michael Jarman came on to work the first of his four innings of work. The lefty continues to pitch well out of the bullpen, throwing a season-high four innings of relief. He gave up a single run in the sixth, surrendering just two hits. Marquis Fleming pitched the final two innings, surrendering two runs in the ninth.

Kyeong Kang also stayed hot for Bowling Green, picking up two more hits to push his hitting streak to nine games. Justin Reynolds knocked in a run in the ninth inning for the Hot Rods, picking up his fifth RBI of the series and his 10th in the last 11 games.

Despite losing three of four in the series, the Hot Rods still won the season series against West Virginia, 7-5. They’ll look to make it two straight season series victories when Asheville comes to town on Saturday night. Bowling Green sends LHP Matt Moore (8-5, 3.07) to the mound against Asheville RHP Juan Nicasio (8-2, 2.49). Bowling Green leads the season series 6-4 entering the opener. The first 1,000 adults into Bowling Green Ballpark will receive BBQ Aprons courtesy of Coca-Cola. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark is 7:05 PM. Gates open at 5:30 PM for season ticket holders and 6 PM for the general public. For tickets, visit bghotrods.com You can follow the game on the radio beginning at 6:20 PM with Tom Gauthier on 1340 WBGN and www.bghotrods.com.

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