Kane County (Ill.) produced all the runs it needed in the first two innings against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Wednesday night at Bowling Green Ballpark, but the Cougars added more than a few extra for good measure in a 9-2 win.

That was ample run support for Kane County starting pitcher Brian Shaffer, who tossed six strong innings to earn the win. A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected by the parent club Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, Shaffer was a standout at the University of Maryland who was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2017. Shaffer had all his pitches working against the Hot Rods, as he allowed two runs (one earned) off six hits and no walks while striking out seven.

“He’s got some good feel about him, a little mound presence,” Hot Rods manager Craig Albernaz said of Shaffer, who ranks No. 23 among Diamondbacks prospects on mlb.com’s MLB Pipeline. “He had a good little change-up, a slider and everything came out of the same tunnel – when the ball comes out of his hand, you don’t know what the pitch is. He did a good job keeping us off balance tonight.”

Kane County (45-44) jumped on Hot Rods starter Alex Valverde early, plating a run in the top of the first on a double-play ball after Luis Silverio led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on the ground ball from Yoel Yanqui.

The Cougars scored two more in the top of the second. Ryan Grotjohn led off with a double and came home on a single by Eudy Ramos, who advanced to second on the throw home and then came around to score on two wild pitches.

Bowling Green (60-29) got a run back in the bottom of the second when Trey Hair connected for his first home run of the season, a shot down the right-field line.

Hair, a 34th round pick by the Rays in the 2017 MLB draft, hit 10 homers last season at Princeton (W.Va.) in the rookie-level Appalachian League.

“He can impact the ball,” Albernaz said. “He has a real nice swing, stays in the zone a long time with his swing. It was good to see him get one over the fence. He barreled up some balls when we were on the road at Fort Wayne and West Michigan and South Bend.”

Hair, who played collegiately at Evansville, joined the Hot Rods on June 22 after moving up from Hudson Valley. Listed as a second baseman on the roster, Hair started at third base Wednesday.

“I’ve been going third to second and back and forth, maybe a little DH here and there,” Hair said. “But just trying to switch around wherever the team needs me because they’re doing so well. I can be just another puzzle piece that adds to them winning.”

Tim Susnara’s two-run homer in the top of the third put the Cougars up 5-1, and a solo homer from shortstop Jazz Chisholm – ranked No. 3 among Diamondbacks prospects – marred what was otherwise an outstanding three-inning relief stint for Bowling Green’s Jhonleider Salinas.

Salinas, a 6-7 righty picked up by the Rays in a 2016 trade with the Cleveland Indians, allowed just the one hit and struck out four while sitting at 96 mph on his fastball.

“He’s right there,” Albernaz said. “It was good to see him getting multiple innings throwing well and keeping his velocity.”

Moises Gomez drove in the Hot Rods’ other run in the sixth on an RBI groundout, but Kane County plated three more runs in the ninth off Bowling Green reliever Phoenix Sanders.

MAC IS BACK

The Hot Rods announced before the game that right-handed pitcher Jose Disla and lefty Josh Fleming had been promoted to High-A Charlotte, with lefty Andrew Gist and catcher Mac Seibert assigned to Bowling Green from short-season Class A Hudson Valley (N.Y.).

It is the third stint of the season with the Hot Rods for Seibert, who started at designated hitter Wednesday and went 0-for-3. Originally a non-drafted free agent signed out of Meridian (Miss.) Community College in 2016, Seibert has batted .240 with a pair of RBIs for the Hot Rods and even made a pair of relief appearances, tossing a scoreless inning April 13 against Fort Wayne (Ind.) and earning the save May 5 at Burlington (Iowa) when he allowed one unearned run in the 10th while striking out a batter in Bowling Green’s 15-13 win.

It is the first appearance in Bowling Green for Gist, the Tampa Bay Rays’ ninth-round pick in 2017 out of the University of Georgia. Gist has pitched in six games for Hudson Valley this season, all in relief, compiling a 3.86 ERA with one save and 13 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods and Cougars will face off again Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Bowling Green Ballpark. The Hot Rods will start right-hander Tommy Romero (6-3, 2.10), with former Hot Rods righty Jayson McKinley (3-3, 3.55) slated to start for Kane County.{&end}