Hot Rods third baseman Kevin Padlo, left, and shortstop Jake Cronenworth talk as the job off the field during their win over the Dayton Dragons on Friday, April 8, 2016, at Bowling Green Ballpark. (Austin Anthony/photo@bgdailynews.com)

The Bowling Green Hot Rods are ready to come back to the relative tropics of Kentucky after a five-game road trip where cold temperatures were the norm. Bowling Green will begin a four-game series with Lansing (Mich.) on Thursday at 6:35 p.m., the only four games on the homestand.

The Hot Rods return home after a trip were temperatures were consistently in the 40s or lower. Only twice on the trip, two games in Dayton (Ohio) and three games in South Bend (Ind.), was the game time temperature above 50. The trip started with a 37-degree first pitch in Dayton.

Bowling Green went 1-4 on the trip to drop to 3-4 on the season, splitting with Dayton before getting swept by South Bend. All three losses in South Bend came by one run. The first two came in walk-off fashion before a 6-5 loss on Wednesday in which the Cubs built a 6-2 lead with the Hot Rods’ late rally falling short.

The disappointment of the road trip is eased slightly by the prospects of better baseball weather the next four days.

With temperatures expected to be in the 70s throughout this series, manager Reinaldo Ruiz said via telephone before Wednesday’s loss that it will be good to be back in more spring-like temperatures.

“We can’t wait to get back,” Ruiz said. “It’s been very cold here and it’s been a factor for us. Our Latin guys are not used to this weather and have never pitched in this weather before. Hopefully, we can see a better result (in Bowling Green).”

Ruiz said the two pitchers it affected the most were Michael Velasquez and Genesis Cabrera, with neither making it past four innings. Velasquez was roughed up for four runs in three innings. The Hot Rods have a team ERA of 4.28 through the first seven games, 12th out of 16 teams.

Despite that, Ruiz said he saw some promise – especially the first time through his staff’s six-man rotation.

“I like what I saw,” Ruiz said. “We have young arms and powerful arms.  We are hoping that we can have better weather so they can have a better feel for the ball. Hopefully we can have those pitchers give us six innings at least.”

Offensively, Ruiz said he thinks the team has done a good job so far.

The Hot Rods are third in the league in average (.278) and runs scored (39). Shortstop Jacob Cronenworth had two more hits in Wednesday’s loss and is leading the team with a .480 average, while outfielder Angel Perez is hitting a robust .444. 

The offense will get tested by a Lansing team that has a 2.83 ERA, second best in the Midwest League. The Lugnuts, the Class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, have also had weather issues in the first week with four of the first five games postponed due to weather.

While the homestand will be brief, Ruiz said he is hopeful that the Hot Rods can pick up some momentum before going back on the road next week.

“Just being at home and going through our routine and stuff with better weather is going to be huge for us,” Ruiz said. “We can’t wait to get back and (get some) momentum going.”

— Follow Bowling Green Hot Rods reporter Micheal Compton on Twitter @mcompton428 or visit bgdailynews.com.