One mislocated fastball. That’s all that stood between a trio of Bowling Green pitchers and a no-hitter on Monday as the Hot Rods opened up a five game homestand with a 6-1 victory over the Greenville Drive.

Newly minted South Atlantic League All-Star Chris Andujar dealt six innings of one-hit, one-run baseball to improve to 7-2 on the year. Andujar’s lone mistake came in the second inning when Greenville’s Kade Keowen deposited a one-out smash over the wall in right.

Offensively, Kyeong Kang and Mike Sheridian did a little yard work of their own for the Hot Rods.

Kang opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with his first homer of the year, a no-doubter of the three-run variety that sailed over the right field wall.  The score would remain 3-0 until the bottom of the third when former #1 draft pick Tim Beckham reached on a one-out walk, stole second, and scored on a Jake Jefferies’ single. Mike Sheridan delivered his team-leading seventh homer in the third with a two-run shot to give the Rods their 6-1 cushion.

The Hot Rods, winners of four straight, remain five games back of the division leading Charleston RiverDogs at 29-28.

GAME NOTES:

• Attendance – 2,925
• Tim Beckham was also voted to the SAL All-Star team. He leads the Hot Rods in BA (.297) and is tied for lead in RBIs (31).
• A label on the back of Tim Beckham’s batting helmet reads: “Dat Dude Shawty” (One of the beauties of Minor League Baseball is that you can actually sit close enough to the players to observe this kind of thing).

SS Tim Beckham and OF Justin Reynolds preparing to lead off the top of the third

Beckham surveys the action from the video board in right-center

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This new and (supposedly) improved bunch of Reds looked out of sorts in the field, at the plate, and on the bases – just like their 2008 brethren.

Aaron Harang (0-1) labored through 114 pitches, lasting just five innings, in his fourth consecutive Opening Day start. The Mets stranded six runners through four innings before Daniel Murphy got the scoring underway in the top of the 5^th with his second career home run – a 400 foot blast over the right field wall. Murphy would add an RBI groundout to first the following inning. Those two runs were all the Mets would need.

Johan Santana (1-0) held the Reds in check through 5 2/3, giving up just three hits while striking out seven. Cincinnati mounted a minor threat off of Santana in the bottom of the 6^th when Darnell McDonald and Joey Votto led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A throwing error by Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran put the pair in scoring position with no out, but the Reds were unable to deliver anything beyond a run-scoring Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly. Met relievers Sean Green, JJ Putz, and Francisco Rodriguez combined to pitch 3 1/3 innings of hitless baseball to close the door on the new-look Reds.

Defensively, the Reds’ outfield was as ugly as the rainy weather, which delayed the game’s start by 13 minutes. Darnell McDonald fumbled around centerfield and the corner outfielders, Jerry Hairston and Jay Bruce, conspired with infielders Brandon Phillips and Alex Gonzalez in the 6th to allow a pair of shallow bloopers to fall to the earth unobstructed.

The Reds are off Tuesday, which will hopefully provide time for the weather – and the Reds’ bats – to heat up.

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