| Saturday, July 31, 2010 For Immediate Release |
Contact: Jesse Goldberg-Strassler ( 517) 485-4500 ext. 233 |
Lugnuts wreck Hot Rods, 11-5
BOWLING GREEN, Kent. – The Lansing Lugnuts (19-15; 55-48) scored in six of their nine at-bats and received a three-run homer from Kevin Ahrens to outpace the host Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-18; 47-56), 11-5, on Saturday night at Bowling Green Ballpark.
With the win and Fort Wayne's loss to Great Lakes, the Lugnuts pulled even for second place in the Eastern Division.
Ahrens went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and four RBIs, icing the victory with his second homer of the year in the ninth inning.
The game took a sloppy three hours and 13 minutes to play, featuring three errors, two passed balls by Hot Rods catcher Mark Thomas, two wild pitches, one hit batsman, 11 walks, and a run-scoring balk.
The balk was called on Bowling Green starter Kirby Yates (2-6) with two outs in the fifth inning, leading to the last of three important runs scored by Lansing. The Hot Rods had just tied the score at 3-3 in their previous at-bat.
Lugnuts starting pitcher Matt Fields (3-6) received the win, allowing nine hits and a walk in five innings but only surrendering three runs.
Steve Turnbull relieved Fields for the sixth, but recorded only two outs before wildness forced him from the game. Turnbull walked three batters, tossed two wild pitches, and hit a batter, allowing a pair of runs.
Matt Wright rescued Turnbull from the frame before combining with Casey Beck to set down the last 10 Hot Rods batters of the game.
The Lugnuts send left-hander Egan Smith (4-0, 2.80) to the mound at 6:05 ET on Sunday night, opposing Bowling Green lefty Aaron Dott (2-3, 4.18).
Tickets to all Lugnuts home games are available for purchase online at www.lansinglugnuts.com, at the stadium box office, and by calling 517-485-4500.
# # #
