The Minot Hot Tots squandered a late three-run lead, but rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning without barely having to swing the bat in a 6-4 victory over Rochester (Minn.) to complete a brief two-game series sweep of the Honkers on July 27 at Corbett Field.

The Hot Tots led 3-0 entering the seventh inning before the Honkers scored four unanswered runs over their next two innings at the plate to grab a one-run lead. Miguel Cantu laced an RBI double to center field in the seventh to get Minnesota on the board, and the Honkers went ahead with a two-out, bases-clearing double off the bat of Maddox Haley.

Patience at the plate allowed the Hot Tots to rally in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Max Ortega and Matt Toomey went down in order to start off the inning, but a two-out double from Ryan Castro got the rally started. That was the lone hit of the inning for the Hot Tots (11-13), who used four walks and a hit by pitch to push across all three runs. Zach Doyle and Jacob Pearl drew bases-loaded walks to recapture the lead. A pitching change led to the same result, as Rochester’s Nick Bauer came on in relief and issued a bases-loaded walk to the first batter he faced in Blake Cavill to give Minot an extra run of support.

Minot’s Kevin Rahe kept the Honkers off the board in the ninth to preserve the victory and earn him his second victory of the season.

Entering the eighth inning, the Honkers (7-18) had only issued the Hot Tots one free base on balls. Minot scored six runs on just five hits. Ortega and Doyle each had a hit and an RBI. Ortega and Castro had Minot’s two extra-base hits.

After dropping five straight, Minot has now won a pair of games in a row, both requiring late-game heroics. The Hot Tots broke that losing streak on a Robbie Demetree walk-off single on July 26 in an 8-7 victory in their first game against Rochester.

Toomey inched the Hot Tots closer with an RBI double to plate Castro and a wild pitch during Demetree’s at-bat allowed the tying run in Doyle to score. Two pitches later, Demetree singled to shortstop, allowing Toomey to touch home and get the Hot Tots back in the win column.

Toomey went 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored in the series opener.

Cavill got the offense going early, crushing a three-run home run to left in the first inning.

Toomey recorded two of his RBIs on the night in the fourth on a single to put the Hot Tots back in front 5-4 before the Honkers would score three unanswered, eventually taking a 7-5 lead in the eighth.

Josh Livengood recorded the win in two innings of work out of the bullpen.

The Hot Tots return to action on July 29 when they host Mankato at Corbett Field at 6:35 p.m.