Brayden Taylor set his new career high with four hits, but it wasn’t enough as the Bowling Green Hot Rods lost an 8-7 thriller to the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina.

Greenville (2-4) started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning against Bowling Green starter Trevor Martin. Caden Rose put up the first run with a one-out homer, giving the Drive a 1-0 lead. Miguel Ugueto and Tyler Miller collected back-to-back singles and came around to score on a double from Bryan Gonzalez, making it 3-0. Ahbram Liendo singled, moving Gonzalez to third and he scored on an RBI groundout from Kristian Campbell, giving Greenville a 4-0 lead.

The Hot Rods (3-3) responded with one run in the top of the third inning against Drive starter JD Encarnacion. Blake Robertson led off with a double. Brayden Taylor singled, plating Robertson to make it a 4-1 game. 

Another run came across in the bottom of the third for the Drive against Martin. Luis Ravelo hit a solo homer to bring the lead back to four for Greenville, 5-1.

Bowling Green drove in four runs in the top of the fourth with Encarnacion still on the mound. Tatem Levins led off with a solo blast to center, making it 5-2. Kamren James and Brock Jones singled in back-to-back at bats. James scored on a sacrifice fly from Hunter Haas, cutting into the lead, 5-3. Jhon Diaz capped off the inning with a two-run home run off the foul pole in right, tying the game 5-5.

The Hot Rods took the lead for the first time in the top of the seventh inning against Drive reliever Gabriel Jackson. Brayden Taylor led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. Xavier Isaac lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Taylor, giving the Hot Rods a 7-6 lead.

Bryan Gonzalez cracked a two-out homer in the bottom of the eighth off Bowling Green reliever Jack Hartman to tie the game 7-7. With Hartman still on the mound in the bottom of the ninth, Campbell and Allan Castro both walked. One out later, Caden Rose singled to left, scoring Campbell to walk-off the game for an 8-7 Drive win.

Caleb Bolden (2-0) picked up his second win of the season, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, walking one and striking out two. Hartman (0-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings, surrendering two runs on two hits while walking two and striking out one in his first loss of the season. 

The Hot Rods and Drive play the fourth game of a six-game series on Friday with a 6:05 p.m. CT first pitch. Bowling Green will send out right-hander Alex Cook (0-1, 6.75) against Greenville righty Luis Parales (0-0, 27.00).