Hot Rods’ rally falls short in 11-inning loss to Grasshoppers
Published 11:15 pm Saturday, May 11, 2024
- Hot Rods center fielder Chandler Simpson (3) bats in the Hot Rods’ season opener 6-1 win against the Hudson Valley Renegades at the Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 5, 2024. (Grace Ramey/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)
The Bowling Green Hot Rods’ comeback fell short, 6-4, in an 11-inning thriller to the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Saturday at Bowling Green Ballpark.
Greensboro (17-14) started the scoring in the top of the third inning against Bowling Green starter Alex Cook. With two outs in the inning, Mitch Jebb and Termarr Johnson worked back-to-back walks. Lonnie White Jr. followed with a hit by pitch to load the bases. Charles McAdoo reached on a fielder’s choice, and Elis Barreat made a throwing error at second base, allowing Jebb and Johnson to score to make it a 2-0 Greensboro lead.
The Grasshoppers extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning on Bowling Green native Luke Brown’s solo home run off Hot Rods reliever Gerlin Rosario.
The Hot Rods (17-15) jumpstarted their offense in the bottom of the eighth inning against Grasshoppers reliever Darvin Garcia. Ryan Spikes and Angel Galarraga worked consecutive walks to lead off the inning. Both runners advanced on a throwing error, putting runners on second and third. Chandler Simpson drove in both runners, cutting into the Greensboro lead, 3-2. Brayden Taylor kept the inning going with a single to right, and the ball rolled under P.J. Hilson’s glove in right, scoring both Simpson and Taylor to give Bowling Green a 4-3 lead.
A solo home run by White Jr. off Hot Rods reliever Aneudy Cortorreal tied the game 4-4 and forced extra innings.
After a scoreless 10th, Greensboro plated two runs in the top of the 11th on a Hudson Head single and a Geovanny Planchart RBI groundout, giving the Grasshoppers a 6-4 lead.
The Hot Rods went quiet in the bottom of the 11th, dropping the penultimate game of the series, 6-4.
Emmanuel Chapman (2-0) picked up his second win of the season, tossing two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. TJ Fondtain (1-1) was given the loss, surrendering two unearned runs on one hit, one walk and two strikeouts in his first loss of the season.
The Hot Rods and Grasshoppers play the finale of a six-game series on Sunday with first pitch at 1:05 p.m. Bowling Green will send out right-hander Yoniel Curet (1-3, 1.93) against righty Patrick Reilly (1-2, 5.11).
