The Bowling Green Hot Rods offense bounced back from the first shutout of the season with an emphatic 11-2 victory over Kane County (Ill.) on Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green pounded out 12 hits and used a huge fifth inning to take command and claim the rubber match in the three-game series against Kane County (13-10).

Bowling Green finished the six-game home stand 4-2, taking two out of three from the top two teams in the Midwest League’s West Division.

“It was great that we could win these two series,” Bowling Green manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. “Our offense came alive after the shutout last night.”

The Hot Rods used an RBI groundout by Angel Perez and a wild pitch to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Bowling Green broke it open with a seven-run fifth inning where 13 men came to the plate. Jake Cronenworth had an RBI double and an RBI single in the rally, while Brett Sullivan had a two-run single and Daniel De La Calle had an RBI single.

“They made mistakes and we made them pay for it,” Ruiz said. “A good offensive team, that is what they do. Today we were able to capitalize on their mistakes and also we ran the bases really well.”

The Hot Rods added another unearned run in the sixth to make the score 10-0.

Kane County scored two in the seventh, but Manny Sanchez capped the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth – his third of the season.

Genesis Cabrera allowed two hits in two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win, while Jose Alvarado went the final three innings to earn his first save of the season.

Sullivan finished with three hits, while Cronenworth and De La Calle added two hits each. Cronenworth has now reached base in all 20 games he has appeared in this season.

“We got it going early, and when you get it going early everyone is feeling good,” Sullivan said. “When you keep piling on hits as a team, it gets contagious. I think we all just felt good and our pitchers did a great job of putting up zeroes.”

GETTING IT STARTED

After making two appearances out of the bullpen since returning to the Hot Rods on Tuesday, right-hander Yonny Chirinos was perfect in his first start of the season for BG.

Chirinos retired all 12 batters he faced, striking out five in four innings of work. He threw 40 pitches, 30 for strikes.

“We are trying to build him up for the next outing,” Ruiz said. “He did a great job. He gave us four good innings. He was efficient keeping his pitch count low. We are trying to build him up for the next outing.”

BACK TO .500

With the win Bowling Green climbed back to .500 with a 12-12 record.

It is the fifth time this season the Hot Rods have had a .500 record, including three times in the last five games. Bowling Green has lost the previous four times it has been .500.

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods open a three-game series at Peoria (Ill.) on Monday at 7 p.m., the start of a six-game road trip against Midwest League Western Division opponents.

Right-hander Jose Mujica (2-1, 4.82) is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods, with right-hander Derian Gonzalez (0-0, 2.50) the scheduled starter for Peoria.

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