Henry Centeno logged a career-high 7.0 innings and got some late insurance, as Bowling Green held off Lansing, 8-4 in front of 1,621 fans at Bowling Green Ballpark Tuesday evening.
Centeno (3-2) allowed just five hits and one run, while issuing no walks with five strikeouts in winning his second straight start to give the Hot Rods (27-19) sole possession of first place in the Eastern Division over Lansing (26-20) with two games still to play in the series. Bowling Green is now 6-1 against Lansing this season.
Casey Gillaspie stayed white hot, ratcheting three more hits with one RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Bralin Jackson contributed two extra-base RBI knocks, including his second home run of the season in the third off Chase De Jong (4-4).
Gillaspie’s first-inning RBI groundout made for a 1-0 lead, but the lead evaporated on the first pitch of the top of the second, when Lansing’s D.J. Davis upped his hitting streak to 14 games with a 400-foot home run to right-centerfield for his second of the season, tying the affair at 1-1.
Jackson came calling in the bottom of the third, slamming a 2-2 offering from De Jong onto the grassy hill in left-centerfield for the 2-1 advantage. De Jong has allowed seven home runs this season – second most in the league – and three have been hit by the Hot Rods at Bowling Green Ballpark.
Lansing collected only three more hits against Centeno, while the Hot Rods staged a two-out, three-run rally in the sixth – aided by two Lugnut errors - to move ahead 5-1. Coty Blanchard was hit by a De Jong pitch and advanced to third when Gillaspie’s shallow fly to left dropped among three fielders resulting in a double. With two in scoring position, Justin Williams struck a groundball to first that rolled under Rowdy Tellez’s glove plating both runners. Williams then scored on Mac James’ two-out RBI single to centerfield.
That four-run lead shrunk considerably in the eighth, as Kyle Bird allowed three runs – two on his own throwing error with two runners in scoring position – on four hits, the last of which a Danny Jansen RBI single, trimming the deficit to 5-4.
Bowling Green responded with three itself in the bottom half off reliever Dusty Isaacs, paced by Williams’ opposite-field line-drive RBI double to left-centerfield, a sacrifice fly from Nick Ciuffo, and Jackson’s own opposite-field RBI double to right-centerfield with two outs for an 8-4 Hot Rods lead.
Bird worked around Chris Carlson’s leadoff double and Tim Locastro’s infield single to begin the ninth, retiring the next three batters, highlighted by Grant Kay’s sensational diving catch on Tellez’s liner to third to end the game.
Kay and James added two hits each, while Gillaspie’ three hits make him 14 for his last 27. In all, four of Bowling Green’s eight runs came after two outs, as have 10 of its last 20 runs over the past two games.
Wednesday’s 6:35 p.m. tilt sees Hot Rods right-hander Chris Pike (5-1, 2.85) go for a Midwest League best sixth victory against Lugnuts right-hander Jesus Tinoco (0-3, 4.19).