The faces are changing, but the results are remaining the same for the Bowling Green Hot Rods – who pulled away late for a 7-2 win over Greensboro on Wednesday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green (64-44 overall, 28-14 second half) took advantage of some miscues and wildness during a six-run seventh inning to take control and make it two straight wins over the Grasshoppers and seven wins in the last nine games.

“We talked about it in the (pregame) meeting, the key tonight was to put pressure on the defense,” BG manager Rafael Valenzuela said. “The guys did a phenomenal job of running the bases hard and putting pressure on the defense. Great teams take advantage of that and we did tonight.”

The streak comes as the roster has seen a healthy change with several key contributors to the season now in Double A Montgomery and five new players joining the roster after being acquired at the July 30 trade deadline by the Tampa Bay Rays.

“They all like to win,” Valenzuela said. “They are winners and it is really fun to watch them mix with the new guys. They play like a team. They really love being around each other. They play for each other and it has been a fun turnaround.”

One of the newcomers, starting pitcher Dylan Lesko, made his Bowling Green Ballpark debut Wednesday night but the right-hander was unable to get out of the second.

Lesko worked around bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the first by striking out three, but couldn’t survive a hit, two walks and two wild pitches – one allowing a run to score – in the second, leaving with two outs and the Hot Rods trailing 1-0.

The bullpen was able to pick it up from there, allowing one run over the last 7 1/3 innings to give the Hot Rods a chance to rally.

“Lesko had a rough outing today, but he’s a young guy,” Valenzuela said. “He’s working through some things. I’m really excited to keep giving him the baseball and have him go to the mound. The bullpen was phenomenal tonight. That’s the story of the second half. They’ve been pitching really well.”

After a single by Shawn Ross gave Greensboro a 2-0 lead in the fourth, the Hot Rods answered in the bottom of the inning. Another new addition, Homer Bush, Jr., got BG’s first hit on a bunt single – eventually scoring on a wild pitch.

Bowling Green exploded for six runs in the seventh, despite only two hits in the rally. The Hot Rods took advantage of five walks and three errors to plate six unearned runs and build a 7-2 advantage that would ultimately be the final margin of victory.

Greensboro outhit Bowling Green 7-4, with Bush delivering three of BG’s four hits.

“We have a ton of talent on this team,” Bush said. “It’s kind of ridiculous when you look up and down the roster, and when you look in the locker room, the kind of talent that we have. I think that makes it a little easier to gel. We have a ton of good guys too. When you have talent plus good people, it makes it easy to kind of stay the course.”

Derrick Eddington earned the win, tossing two scoreless innings.

FATHERLY ADVICE

Bush had his best game since joining the Hot Rods and is starting to settle in after being traded two weeks ago. He said he wasn’t sure how he would deal with being traded until it happened, but he is starting to feel like part of the team.

“To kind of get here and struggle the first couple of days while I was getting my footing and then to feel the support from the team, the organization and everything to put me in position mentally so that I know I can contribute,” Bush said. “I know I am a high-level player. To feel that love from everybody made it easy to start to get back on track. That happened today.”

Bush said the transition was helped by talking to his dad, former major leaguer Homer Bush, Sr. who was traded several times in his career.

“It’s one of those things he’s mentioned throughout my career, ‘I know this is the team you got drafted by, but that doesn’t mean it is going to be the team you are going to play with your whole entire career,’ ” Bush said. “I kind of knew going into it. I kind of had a little bit of semblance of what it was going to feel like, but he just told me to stay the course and look at it as an opportunity. That is my dad’s big thing – opportunities.”

STRETCH RUN

With the win Wednesday, Bowling Green maintained a four game division lead, putting the Hot Rods in prime position to clinch a playoff spot.

Valenzuela said it’s nice to have something to play for as the team finishes up the regular season over the next three weeks.

“That’s always the goal,” Valenzuela said. “Obviously the goal is to get these guys to the next level, but if you win a few games here or there we are not going to say no. I think they’ve done a phenomenal job of playing good baseball down the stretch – putting themselves in a spot to where this a possibility that the last game of the (regular) season is not the last game of the season.”

UP NEXT

The series is scheduled to continue at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday. Right-hander Brady Hopkins (1-1, 1,93) is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods, with right-hander J.P. Massey (3-5, 5.44) scheduled to start for Greensboro.{&end}