Bowling Green, KY – On a wild and crazy night, fan-favorite Burt Reynolds hit the Hot Rods first grand slam of the season in the final home game of 2010. Reynolds blast came a little too late as the Hot Rods lost 13-9 to the Fort Wayne TinCaps, spoiling what would’ve been a perfect ending at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Reynolds, promoted to Bowling Green on August 23, became an immediate hit with the fans thanks to sharing a name with the Hollywood legend. After entering the game in the seventh inning as a pinch-runner, Reynolds got his first at-bat in the bottom of the eighth.

With one out, the Hot Rods loaded the bases on an error and two walks – a common theme for both clubs on the night. Reynolds then deposited a fastball from pitcher Jackson Quezada into the Service One Credit Union Green Seats in left field for his first home run as a Hot Rod.

Amid the chaos the Reynolds blast caused, the Hot Rods were unable to overcome an early big hole. Fort Wayne scored three runs in the first inning before tacking on four more in the third, all charged to starting pitcher Yorman Mayora.

After Fort Wayne made it 8-0 in the fifth, the Hot Rods began a comeback sparked by Ty Morrison. The speedy outfielder drove in the team’s first run in the fifth inning, lacing a two-out triple into the right field corner to cut the lead to 8-1.

In the sixth, Julio Cedeno and Ryan Wiegand reached on a single and a double, respectively, with one out. Tomas Francisco plated Cedeno with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 8-2. Wiegand took third on the sacrifice fly before scoring on a wild pitch to cut the lead to five runs.

In the seventh, Julio Cedeno stepped up with a bases loaded single that pulled the Hot Rods within four runs at 8-4. He was followed two batters later on a run-scoring error that made it 8-5 Fort Wayne. That’s as close as the Hot Rods would get, however, as Fort Wayne took advantage of sloppy Hot Rods fielding to score five unearned runs in the eighth inning.

Reynolds big home run in the eighth allowed the Hot Rods to pull within four runs, but they couldn’t overcome a season-high six errors. In addition to Reynolds, Morrison had a big night in his final game at Bowling Green Ballpark. Morrison went 2-3 with his 13th triple, third most in the Midwest League. He also walked twice, drove in a run, scored two runs, and stole his team-high 53rd base in the first inning. Cedeno finished with three hits, driving in his 21st run in the month of August.

Mayora took the loss for the Hot Rods in his second straight start. He allowed seven runs (five earned) in just 2.2 innings. The righty gave up just three hits but walked five batters before leaving for Dott. Dott allowed three inherited runners to score, but gave up just one run of his own in 3.1 innings of relief. Jake Sullivan worked two frames but was plagued by four errors in giving up five unearned runs. Matt Stabelfeld worked the final inning without incident.

The final game drew 5,197 fans, the 10th standing-room only crowd of the 2010 season. The final game also pushed the season attendance to 235,412. The season total surpassed the Hot Rods final attendance from their inaugural season of 232,987 in 2009.

The Hot Rods now hit the road for the final six games of the season beginning Wednesday night from Dayton, OH. RHP Alexander Colome (6-6, 3.95) takes the ball in the series opener against the Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds). The Dragons will counter with RHP Jacob Johnson. First pitch is at 6 PM CDT.