Bowling Green pitcher Brendan McKay throws a pitch during Thursday’s game against Cedar Rapids at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green Hot Rods pitcher/first baseman Brendan McKay continues to be a terror on Midwest League pitchers.

He is even more of a problem for Midwest League hitters.

McKay worked a career-high six innings to earn his second win of the year, and Bowling Green blanked Cedar Rapids (Iowa) 4-0 in the opener of a three-game series Thursday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

McKay allowed one hit and struck out seven to lower his ERA to 1.09. He has now allowed one run and six hits total with 32 strikeouts over his last 19 2/3 innings.

He also leads the Midwest League as a hitter with a .483 on base percentage.

“He is a really good baseball player,” Hot Rods manager Craig Albernaz said. “It sounds kind of dumb, but he’s a really good baseball player. He’s a really good hitter and a really good pitcher. It’s a testament to him because, like I’ve said every time I talk about him, he works hard. He gets it.

“It’s tough to do it on one side of the ball at this level – at any level. For him to do it the way he is doing on both sides of the ball, that is impressive.”

The left-hander only needed 54 pitches in Thursday’s win, 43 for strikes.

The lone base runner came on a single by David Banuelos in the third inning. McKay retired the final 10 batters he faced, four on strikeouts, with only one ball hit to the outfield.

“I say it after every start, he pounds the zone,” Albernaz said. “He throws strikes. He repeats his delivery. It’s a nice easy motion. He can spin it in the zone for strikes. He has a little cutter and a change-up.

“Tonight he was very efficient. When you throw strikes early (you get hitters in swing mode). Once the hitters are in swing mode, then you can expand the zone and the hitters have to respect it because you are throwing strikes. That was the case today.”

Offensively, Moises Gomez had three hits – starting the scoring with an RBI single in the first.

The Hot Rods added two more runs in the third on an RBI single by Zach Rutherford and an RBI double by Gomez.

Zac Law capped the scoring with an RBI in the sixth.

The bullpen threw three innings to help complete Bowling Green’s first shutout of the season.

Jhonleider Salinas tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings, while Phoenix Sanders got the final out with two runners on to earn his first save of the season.

Cedar Rapids (14-14) finished with two hits.

The Hot Rods had 12 hits, with Vidal Brujan and Taylor Walls both finishing with two hits and two runs scored.

QUICK START

The first-inning run for the Hot Rods was the 36th run scored in the first inning this season – the best inning for Bowling Green’s offense. The second-best inning this season for the Hot Rods is the second inning, with the Hot Rods scoring 26 runs.

DON’T I KNOW YOU?

In the sixth inning, Gomez faced Cedar Rapids reliever Moises Gomez. Gomez the pitcher won the battle, getting Gomez the hitter to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

UP NEXT

The series continues at 6:35 p.m. Friday.

Right-hander Alex Valverde (2-1, 3.47) is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods. Valverde is 2-0 with a 1.80 in two home starts this season. He allowed five runs – four earned – and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings in his last start at Burlington (Iowa) on Saturday, getting a no-decision.

Right-hander Blayne Enlow (0-1, 4.91) is scheduled to start for the Kernels. Enlow allowed one run and four hits in two innings in his last start on Saturday against West Michigan. It was Enlow’s first appearance in 15 days.