Bowling Green takes advantage of Great Lakes' mistakes
Two walks, a debated hit batsman and a costly error led to four third inning runs for the Bowling Green Hot Rods Sunday afternoon in a 5-2 victory over the MIDLAND -- Great Lakes Loons in front of a crowd of 4,070 at Dow Diamond.
Keith Castillo led off the third inning with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 advantage.
Starter Tim Sexton walked two batters in the inning, but with two outs and two strikes he appeared to strike out Phil Wunderlich. On a 1-2 pitch low and inside, Wunderlich was hit by the pitch but appeared to swing. However, both umpires ruled that Wunderlich didn't swing and granted him first base. The next batter, Nick Schwaner, hit a ground ball down the first base line that went under the glove of Blake Dean for a three-run, three-base error.
The Loons got RBI singles in the third (Dean) and fourth innings (Jesse Bosnik) but could not score further in the game.
BG added a fifth run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Steve Tinoco. Pete Budkevics relieved Sexton with no outs and two runners on and stranded both runners. He then threw three more innings of scoreless relief to keep the Loons offense in the game, but Great Lakes did not score again.
Sexton (3-3) picked up the loss. Eliazer Suero (8-5) was the winner with six solid innings. Chris Rearick, the loser the night before, recorded the final three outs for his 18th save of the season.
The Loons out-hit Bowling Green, 7-4.
