Pitcher Caleb Sampen delivers to the plate during their game against Lansing on Monday, August 5, 2019, at Bowling Green Ballpark. (Austin Anthony/photo@bgdailynews.com)

A good beginning turned into a sloppy ending for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, who split a doubleheader with the Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts on Monday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green took Game 1, 3-1, and rallied to force extra innings in Game 2 before an error opened the floodgates and lifted Lansing to a 6-3, eight-inning win in the nightcap. Bowling Green (64-49 overall, 25-18 second half) maintained a share of the lead in the Midwest League Eastern Division but continued its recent funk, dropping to 3-7 in the last 10 games.

“I think the first game was a clean game,” BG manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. “We pitched really well. The defense was good. We had timely hitting. The second game we had trouble getting hits and getting on base … then we finally tied it in the sixth, and then at the end we did everything we could to lose this game.”

Bowling Green was held without a hit until the sixth inning in the second game, with Lansing (53-59, 21-22) building a 3-0 advantage. The Hot Rods finally broke into the hit column – and scoring column – on one swing when Jonathan Aranda hit an opposite field two-run homer to left to cut the deficit to one. BG tied the game later in the inning on an RBI single by Seaver Whalen, but left the potential go-ahead run at second to end the inning.

That set the stage for Lansing’s eighth-inning rally, which started with a bunt single by Otto Lopez and a throwing error by Michael Costanzo that allowed the Lugnuts to regain the lead. Lansing added insurance later in the inning when two runners scored on a wild pitch. Bowling Green was unable to mount a rally in the bottom of the inning.

“It’s that time of year where you start seeing some fatigue – mentally and physically – but honestly that is no excuse for the way we played the eighth inning,” Ruiz said. “We should be prepared for everything that happens and we didn’t execute anything. Like I said, we did everything we could to lose that game.”

Costanzo took the loss in his first decision of the season. The Hot Rods were outhit 7-3.

In Game 1, Caleb Sampen provided six strong innings to lead the way with newest Hot Rod Ruben Cardenas contributing some much needed pop.

Ford Proctor doubled home a run in the third, with Cardenas hitting his first home run since joining Bowling Green last week to make the score 2-0 in the fourth.

Lansing broke through with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but Grant Witherspoon’s RBI double gave the Hot Rods some insurance in the bottom of the inning.

Sampen improved to 9-4 with his team leading 12th quality start of the season. The right-hander allowed one unearned run and eight hits in six innings, striking out four with no walks. Cristofer Ogando closed it out with a perfect seventh for his fifth save of the season.

“He’s been pitching really well.” Ruiz said of Sampen. “It seems like he is going to finish the season strong. Today he was working fast and he kept the defense on their toes. He keeps pitching really well.”

Cardenas scored a pair of runs in Game 1.

UP NEXT

The series concludes at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday.

Right-hander Zach Trageton (1-0, 4.26) is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods. Trageton made his first start with the Hot Rods – second appearance overall – in his last outing against Dayton on Wednesday, allowing four runs – three earned – in 4 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Troy Watson (5-2, 3.72) is scheduled to start for the Lugnuts. Watson is 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA in seven appearances – six starts – since the All-Star break. He has allowed five earned runs over eight innings of work against the Hot Rods this season.