FORT WAYNE – TinCaps shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits and a walk Sunday afternoon, but Fort Wayne lost to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays), 6-3.

Fort Wayne brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, however, Hot Rods reliever Deivy Mendez (S) induced a groundout that ended the game.

Bowling Green (30-19, 61-57) jumped on the board in the top of the third inning. With runners on first and second base and two outs, Emilio Gustave homered over the left-field wall to put Bowling Green in front, 3-0.

The Hot Rods added a run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Adrian Rondon hit a home run to left-center field to extend the Bowling Green lead to 4-0.

Fort Wayne (32-17, 58-61) scored its first run in the bottom of the fourth with one swing of the bat. Third baseman Hudson Potts led off with a homer to left field to cut the deficit to 4-1. It was the second hit of the game for Potts who also doubled earlier in the game.

Bowling Green scored again in the fifth. Josh Lowe scored from second base on a Robbie Tenerowicz infield single to the right side of the infield, giving the Hot Rods a 5-1 edge.

The TinCaps cut into the deficit in the sixth. With two outs, right fielder Jack Suwinski singled. Center fielder Buddy Reed followed with a double into the left-center field gap, scoring Suwinski from first base and making it a 5-2 ballgame.

The Hot Rods came back with a run in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and no outs, Gustave grounded into a double play, but Luis Rengifo scored from third base on the play to put Bowling Green up 6-2.

Fort Wayne trimmed the deficit again in the bottom of the seventh. With Tatis at second and designated hitter Jorge Oña at first, first baseman G.K Young doubled down the right field line, scoring Tatis to cut the Hot Rods’ lead to 6-3.

The TinCaps added one more run in the ninth. A wild pitch scored Tatis from third to make it a 6-4 Hot Rods lead, but that’s as close at the TinCaps would get.

Fort Wayne starting pitcher Michel Baez (L) struck out five batters in five innings on the mound but allowed five runs on seven hits. Reliever Dalton Erb allowed just two hits and one run in three innings pitched, and Jordan Guerrero pitched one scoreless inning of relief.

Bowling Green starting pitcher Adrian Navas (W) allowed one run and struck out six batters in 5 and 2/3 innings pitched.