Opportunity knocked for the second night in a row for the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Thursday night against visiting Lansing (Mich.) at Bowling Green Ballpark, the Hot Rods had the bases loaded with no outs in a tight ballgame – just like Wednesday night, when Bowling Green came away with no runs in an eventual shutout defeat.

Same situation, different result – much different. Bowling Green’s Bobby Melley laced a two-run double to right field off Lugnuts starter Justin Maese, and the floodgates opened for an eight-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning that launched the Hot Rods to a 10-2 victory that evened the three-game series.

“I don’t want to make excuses from yesterday, but we had a long road trip back from South Bend and got in late,” Hot Rods manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. “And also the rain delay was affecting us and I guess we were not prepared.

“Today was much different. The offense was ready. We took control that inning. Much better approach tonight.”

Bowling Green (55-52 overall, 24-16 second half) did much of that damage against Maese, a third-round pick in the 2015 MLB draft by parent organization Toronto. One of the more solid starters in the Midwest League this season, Maese was roughed up for eight earned runs in just three innings.

“We’ve faced him before,” Ruiz said. “We knew that he likes to throw a lot of fastballs in and we were ready.”

The Hot Rods pounded out 14 hits, with star outfielder Jesus Sanchez and second baseman Mike Brosseau pacing the offense with three hits each.

Sanchez was part of that eight-run outburst in the fourth, drawing a walk and eventually scoring in his first plate appearance and then slashing a two-run single to right to keep the rally going.

Ranked in the top five among Tampa Bay Rays farmhands in both the MLB.com and Baseball America mid-season rankings, the left-handed swinging 6-foot-3, 210-pound corner outfielder from the Dominican Republic may not be in Bowling Green much longer.

“It’s up to the front office,” Ruiz said. “I think he’s ready to move up, but it’s up to the front office. He’s still young. He’s 19 years old and the next level could maybe be tough for him, but who knows. We’re just waiting for that call.”

Brosseau, an undrafted free agent out of Oakland (Mich.) in his second year with the Rays organization, knows he has to continually prove himself to stick. A three-hit night helps, and Brosseau has been doing all he can at the plate (.318 batting average, 6 homers, 20 doubles).

“He’s been playing really hard since spring training, playing hard and having good at-bats every day,” Ruiz said of Brosseau. “Yeah, he’s one of those guys that have to do a lot because they were not drafted. He understands that and he works hard and plays hard, and that’s all we ask.”

Brosseau, who started at second base on Thursday, said he’s played everywhere in the infield this season.

“I’ve been moving around across the infield,” Brosseau said. “I think that actually benefits me a little bit more, kind of showcases that I can play a capable role in any position they put me.”

Staked with 9-1 lead after just four innings, Hot Rods starter Kenny Rosenberg breezed through seven innings before reliever Deivy Mendez finished up. Rosenberg, one of only two left-handers on the roster, allowed just one unearned run off three hits and a walk. He struck out nine.

“Definitely the off-speed pitches for him were working really well and that makes the fastball look even hotter,” Ruiz said of Rosenberg, a ninth-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Cal-State Northridge. “Even though he was throwing 90, 91, when you have that kind of off-speed pitch it’s going to look like he’s throwing 100.”

Rene Pinto and Miles Mastrobuoni added two hits each for the Hot Rods.

Up next

The Hot Rods and Lugnuts will complete the three-game series on Friday with a 6:35 p.m. matchup at Bowling Green Ballpark. Right-hander Kyle Weatherly is slated to start for Lansing, with righty Chris Pike scheduled to go for the Hot Rods.{&end}