[dropcap]W[/dropcap]illy Adames and Jeff Holm blasted home runs Saturday to lift the West Michigan Whitecaps over the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 3-1, in front of a season-high crowd of 9,021 at Fifth Third ballpark.
West Michigan (5-4, 46-33) limited Bowling Green (3-6, 35-43) to just one run through the first two games of their four-game set. The ‘Caps struck first on Saturday night with a run in the opening frame. Wynton Bernard and Javier Betancourt singled to put runners on the corners with no outs before Raph Rhymes drove in his team-leading 39th RBI of the season with a fielder’s choice groundout that saw Bernard cross the plate for a 1-0 lead.
The Hot Rods tied the game in the top of the fifth with a bases-loaded situation on a groundout by Juniel Querecuto, but that was their sole run of the game and the deadlock did not last long.
The 18-year-old Adames jumped on a 0-2 fastball in the bottom of the fifth and rocketed it beyond the left field fence to break the tie. Two innings later, Holm led off the seventh frame with a homer of his own for the 3-1 final.
Whitecaps’ All-Star pitchers Buck Farmer (7-5) and Joe Mantiply (6) allowed just one run over the game for another low-scoring affair. Farmer started and worked six strong innings for the win, limiting the Hot Rods to one run on six hits – all singles – and one hit. Farmer leads the Midwest League in strikeout total with an even 100. Mantiply took over in the seventh and retired nine of the 11 batters he faced for the save.
Ben Griset (0-4) took the loss for Bowling Green, allowing just four hits without issuing a walk over seven strong innings. Two of the four hits were home runs, though he was charged with three runs in the loss.
