Hot Rods clip Cougars 6-4

Cody Rogers and Kevin Kiermaier combined for 6 hits, 4 runs and a pair of RBI as the Bowling Green Hot Rods defeated the Kane County Cougars 6-4 Thursday night at Elfstrom Stadium.

With the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning, the Hot Rods used an RBI single from Luke Bailey and a 2-run double from Hector Guevara to go in front 4-1.

Not to be outdone, however, the Cougars parlayed Ryan Stovall’s two-out, 2-run double in the bottom of the fifth to get within a run.

The Hot Rods extended their lead in the seventh as Nick Schwaner singled, scoring Rogers, who had tripled a moment earlier.

After the Cougars again got within a run on consecutive doubles from Cheslor Cuthbert and Jake Kuebler in the eighth, Rogers’ 10th home run added some insurance.

Sugar Ray Marimon took the loss, his fifth in 8 decisions, while Bowling Green’s Braulio Lara won for the first time since mid-April. Chris Rearick pitched a scoreless inning for his seventh save.

The game marked the return of Cougars outfielder Brett Eibner after he missed the last 57 games with an injury suffered in the second game of the season. Last year’s second-round draft pick went 0-4.