The Bowling Green Hot Rods bounced back from a ninth-inning loss on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Lansing (Mich.) in Sunday’s series finale at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Facing one of the top pitchers in the Toronto Blue Jays system – right-hander Sean Reid-Foley – Bowling Green made the most of six hits to salvage a split in the four-game series.

“It was definitely a good win for us after the tough loss we had last night,” BG manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. “Offensively, we’ve been doing what we need to do to win games. The pitching right now is not doing that well, but today Genesis Cabrera and (Henry) Centeno did a great job so we could win this one.”

Bowling Green (5-6) battled Reid-Foley, ranked as Toronto’s No. 3 prospect by MLB.com, from the outset – knocking the right-hander out by the fifth inning.

Joe McCarthy scored on a wild pitch in the second to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead, before Lansing scored two in the top of the third to make the score 2-1.

Bowling Green answered with RBI singles from Brett Sullivan and McCarthy in the fourth to regain a 3-2 advantage.

The Hot Rods added insurance off the Lansing bullpen with a two-run double from Angel Perez in the sixth. Lansing brought the tying runner to the plate in the ninth, getting runners to second and third with two outs, but Centeno struck out Josh Almonte to preserve the win.

Sullivan and Michael Russell finished with two hits each, while McCarthy had two runs scored.

“Last night was a tough one, a game I think we should have won,” McCarthy said. “We just wanted to come out, bounce back today and play hard. I feel like as a team we were putting good at-bats together and putting runs on the board.”

LONG MAN

Centeno continues to shine as the long man in the bullpen, allowing one hit with seven strikeouts over five shutout innings to earn the victory on Sunday.

The right-hander, who made 23 starts with the Hot Rods last season, has tossed 12 1/3 scoreless innings out of the pen to begin the season – allowing five hits with 13 strikeouts.

“He’s done a great job,” Ruiz said. “We were short on pitching today and he saved our bullpen. Lansing has some guys with experience (and) Centeno has been in the league. Hopefully he can have some more good outings and move up.”

DYNAMIC DUO

McCarthy and Sullivan continued to be thorns in the side of Lansing pitchers in Sunday’s finale, capping off strong series’ at the plate against the Lugnuts.

Sullivan finished 6-for-15 at the plate in the series, with a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored.

McCarthy had three hits, four RBIs, scored two runs and walked six times.

“Those two guys have been doing a good job in the middle of the order,” Ruiz said. “Those guys have been seeing a lot pitches, working at-bats, and putting the ball in play. McCarthy has been getting big hits for us. He’s done a good job.”

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods begin a seven game road trip, starting a three-game series at South Bend (Ind.) at 6:05 p.m. CDT on Monday. Bowling Green was swept in a three-game series at South Bend last week, losing all three games by one run.

Right-hander Alexis Tapia (0-0, 3.00), who allowed two runs in six innings in an outing at South Bend on Apr. 12, is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods. Left-hander Carson Sands (0-0, 3.60) is slated to take the hill for South Bend.

— Follow Bowling Green Hot Rods reporter Micheal Compton on Twitter @mcompton428 or visit bgdailynews.com.