The Bowling Green Hot Rods keep rolling along, making it three straight wins against West Michigan with a 7-2 victory Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

West Michigan turned to starting pitcher Matt Manning, the No. 2 prospect in the Detroit Tigers’ system, to try to avoid the sweep, but Bowling Green knocked the right-hander around and dropped its magic number to clinch a playoff spot to eight with 14 games left in the first half.

“Their starting pitcher is really good,” BG manager Craig Albernaz said. “Our guys did a good job. They don’t panic. They grind away some good at-bats, get on base and they wreak some havoc.

“To get a sweep off any team at any level is tough. These three games were tough. It sounds so mundane, but these guys come every day ready to play, ready to work.”

The Hot Rods trailed early before taking control with a flurry in the middle innings.

Bowling Green (36-19) scored on a throwing error by catcher Joey Morgan in the first, but West Michigan (28-28) surged in front 2-1 on a two-run homer by Dylan Rosa in the second.

Jim Haley tied the score with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. It was the start of a four-run inning for Bowling Green that included Moises Gomez’s two-RBI infield single where Vidal Brujan kept running on the play and scored from second base.

“To me (that’s a big play),” Albernaz said. “Gomez busting it down the line with two outs to beat it out and then you’ve got Brujan running hard the whole way scoring on an infield hit. That’s what these guys have been doing – playing hard from inning one to inning nine.”

The Hot Rods capped it off with two more unearned runs in the sixth and the bullpen finished it off with three scoreless innings.

Tobias Myers earned the win to improve to 6-3 on the season. Myers allowed two runs – one earned – and three hits in six innings of work with five strikeouts and three walks.

Brujan, Haley and Adrian Rondon paced the BG offense with two hits each.

“We’re hot, we are hitting the ball, but I think the biggest thing for us is we are taking good at-bats,” Haley said. “It’s the whole lineup, one through nine, being able to work counts. Nobody is an easy out. He was a good arm today, but you take a pitcher’s life out of them when one through nine is putting together at-bats together like that.”

HOME SWEET HOME

Sunday’s win continued the Hot Rods’ success at Bowling Green Ballpark this season.

Bowling Green is 21-7 overall at home this season – 13-4 in the last seven games dating back to May 7.

During the 17-game stretch the Hot Rods have scored 114 runs and have a +73 run differential, scoring four runs or more in 15 out of 17 games.

The Hot Rods have yet to lose a home series this season.

DAY OF REST

Monday’s off day, the final one in the first half, gives the Hot Rods a rare chance to rest at home and not have to worry about travel.

“We finally got an off day and it is nice that we have the 2 o’clock start (Sunday) because we essentially get two off days,” Haley said. “Everybody has been really looking forward to this – no traveling. I think everybody is going to take it easy and we have a few guys going to Nashville. Everybody is definitely going to enjoy this one.”

Albernaz said it is a well-deserved day of rest for the players.

“They’ve earned it,” Albernaz said. “They have been working their butts off. I can’t say how proud I am of them, so they have definitely earned this off day and they will come back ready to go on Tuesday.”

It’s one of two scheduled off days between home series this season, with the Hot Rods also scheduled for an off day at home on Aug. 7.

UP NEXT

The homestand continues with a three-game series against Lansing (Mich.), with game one scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Bowling Green leads the Lugnuts by one game in the Midwest League Eastern Division. The Hot Rods took two out of three in Lansing last month and would secure the tiebreaker over the Lugnuts with another series win.

Neither team has announced a starter for Tuesday’s opener.{&end}