Dayton, OH – In a game that began with a lot of zeroes, the Hot Rods scored five runs over the final three frames to beat the Dayton Dragons 5-3 on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Field. Newcomer Shane Minks earned the win in his Hot Rods debut, throwing three solid innings of relief. The victory is the Hot Rods ninth straight in Dayton and improves their record to 10-8 against the Dragons in 2010.

After the teams began the game with six shutout innings, the Hot Rods started the scoring in the top of the seventh inning. Facing Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez, who was assigned to Dayton on Tuesday, Julio Cedeno and Mark Thomas began the seventh with singles. A double play advanced Cedeno to third and left a potential rally in the hands of DH Dave Wendt. Volquez worked ahead of Wendt with one ball and two strikes, but a high fastball was swung on and missed by Wendt, sailing to the backstop to allow Cedeno to score as Wendt reached first to make it 1-0 Bowling Green.

After Dayton tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie it, the Hot Rods exploded for a three-run eighth inning. Dustin Biell began the frame by getting plunked on the hip by reliever Josh Smith. Two batters later, Biell took second on a walk to Ty Morrison. Ryan Wiegand followed with a single to center field that plated Biell as the Hot Rods re-took the lead at 2-1.

Morrison and Wiegand both advanced an extra base on Wiegand’s single as the throw home sailed high and wide of the plate. That proved to be huge as Thomas delivered a two-out infield single that allowed both Wiegand and Morrison to score to push the lead to 4-1.

Looking like they had the game in the bag, the Hot Rods nearly lost the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Koronis entered the game and was quickly greeted by a home run from Justin Reed to cut the margin to 4-2. A pair of hits and an error followed allowing the Dragons to make it a one-run game at 4-3.

Koronis eventually got out of the eighth inning before the Hot Rods grabbed their final insurance run in the ninth. With two outs, Dustin Biell smoked a fastball over the right field fence for his fourth home run of the season, pushing the lead back to a pair of runs at 5-3. It was Biell’s second home run in a week and his second at Fifth Third Field in 2010.
New Hot Rods pitcher Shane Marks earned the win after getting called up from Princeton (Rookie-Appalachian League) earlier in the game.

The righty went 3.0 innings allowing just one unearned runs on three hits and three K’s. He followed the starting pitcher, C.J. Riefenhauser, who was also called up from Princeton before the game. Riefenhauser threw the first four frames, matching zeroes with Volquez along the way. He allowed just one hit with a walk and three strikeouts. Koronis worked the final two innings for his fifth save of the season.

Volquez did not factor into the decision, striking out nine over seven innings. His Reds teammate, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, was also in the Dragons line-up on a rehab assignment. Cabrera finished the game 0-for-3 before leaving in the seventh.

Biell led the Hot Rods offense going 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk, and his 13th stolen base. Ty Morrison was on base three times with a single and two walks, adding two more steals to raise his total to 55 on the year. Thomas finished the game with a pair of hits while Julio Cedeno extended his hitting streak to seven games.

The series continues with the middle game on Thursday night at Fifth Third Field. LHP Kyle Lobstein (8-8, 4.31) makes his final start of the season against Dayton RHP Jacob Johnson (8-6, 4.37). First pitch is at 6 PM CDT.