(Lexington, KY) – Hot Rods starting pitcher Matt Moore turned in another solid outing against the Lexington Legends (1-2, 37-36) on Saturday night, throwing five scoreless innings in a 4-1 Hot Rods win. The victory guarantees Bowling Green (2-1, 36-37) a split of their first series in the second half of the season heading into the finale on Sunday afternoon.

For the second straight game, the Hot Rods broke open the scoring first by getting a pair of runs in the second inning. Mike Sheridan began the inning with a one-out triple into the left field corner. He then came in to score when Justin Reynolds hit a slow roller near the mound and pitcher Brad Dydalewicz (L; 4-2) threw the ball away trying to get Sheridan at the plate. Jason Tweedy followed with a walk before Robi Estrada singled to load the bases. That’s when Anthony Scelfo hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Reynolds and give the Hot Rods a 2-0 lead.

That’s all Matt Moore would need as he was dominant for the second straight against the Legends. He worked five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. He struck out seven and walked only two for the fourth straight outing. The start capped off a tremendous month of June for Moore as he went 2-1 over five games. He allowed just five earned runs over 27.2 innings, good for a 1.63 ERA. He also picked up 42 strikeouts to move into fourth place in the SAL rankings.

Bowling Green added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings against relief pitcher Brian Wabick. Robi Estrada led off the seventh with a triple before scoring two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Tim Beckham, who recorded his 38th RBI on the play. In the eighth Mike Sheridan hit the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for his ninth home run of the season, bumping the score to 4-1.

The bullpen for the Hot Rods took care of the rest. Tyree Hayes worked the sixth and seventh, allowing a home run to Kyle Miller while striking out four. Josh Satow then came on to close the door in the eighth and the ninth to record his team-leading ninth save of the season.

The Hot Rods have taken two of three in the series and have split the first eight games with Lexington at Applebee’s Park. They’ll go for the series victory and the season victory in Lexington on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Shane Dyer (1-5, 4.65) starts for the Hot Rods against Lexington righty Robert Bono (6-4, 2.27).