The Bowling Green Hot Rods capped a dominant series with a dominant win, completing a four-game sweep with a 9-1 win Thursday over Lake County (Ohio) at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green (65-55 overall, 34-19 second half) pounded out 13 hits and got seven strong innings from Chris Pike to finish off the sweep against the Captains and drop its magic number to clinch a playoff spot to nine. Bowling Green outscored Lake County 32-10 in the series. In the past four four-game series the Hot Rods have played, they have three sweeps – going 15-1 overall.

“The boys are playing really well,” Bowling Green manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. “Everything seems to be working – the defense, the offense and the pitching. Hopefully we can keep this going and carry this momentum into the last part of the season.”

A night after scoring in six out of eight innings, the Hot Rods jumped ahead 3-0 and used a pair of three-run surges in the sixth and the eighth innings to pull away.

Bowling Green finished 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position, going 19-for-54 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Luis Rengifo, Josh Lowe, Jesus Sanchez, Jim Haley and Miles Mastrobuoni all had two-hit games. Mastrobuoni scored two runs and drove in two, while Rengifo and Haley also scored two runs.

“The lineup we have, top to bottom, they put up really good at-bats every night,” Ruiz said. “That is good to see. Right now we swinging the bats really well. Tonight we did a really good job with runners in scoring position.”

Pike bounced back from a rough outing at Fort Wayne (Ind.), where he allowed eight runs in 6 1/3 innings, with a solid effort Thursday. The right-hander allowed one run and four hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks to improve to 4-4 on the season.

“Whenever you have a team that is aggressive and you are throwing a knuckleball, you want to continue to pound the zone,” Pike said. “You are not trying to make them chase pitches. Let the ball do what it does when they are aggressive like that and you can get a lot of contact early in at-bats. That is definitely crucial in going deep in games.”

INJURY REPORT

Catcher Danny De La Calle had to leave the game in the top of the fifth after taking a ball off the hand. He went for X-rays and his status going forward is unknown.

GRAB A BAT

With the De La Calle injury and Rene Pinto starting the night at designated hitter, Pike got the chance to bat in the sixth after Pinto replaced De La Calle behind the plate – forcing the Hot Rods to give up the designated hitter.

Pike, who drew a five-pitch walk, is the first pitcher in franchise history to bat. It was Pike’s first at-bat since high school in 2010.

He said he got a bat from Robbie Tenerowicz but struggled to find a batting helmet that fit. When he got to the plate, Pike said his first thought was to swing the bat and hit a home run, but Ruiz told him not to swing.

“That was kind of a bummer, but that was the right thing to do as a pitcher,” Pike said. “At that point in the game it was downpouring and the pitcher was struggling. I even said to the catcher, ‘Look, I’m not swinging so let him throw it down the middle.’ He said. ‘I know, that is what I am trying to do.’

“With the rain and conditions I was able to draw a walk. That was awesome. That was fun.”

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods begin a four-game series with West Michigan at 6:35 p.m. Friday. Neither team has announced a starter.