Captains Late Rally Not Enough In South Bend

(South Bend, IN) -The Lake County Captains fell behind early and were forced to play from behind on Friday night. The Captains would rally to tie the game at 7-7 in the top of the eighth inning. However, the South Bend Cubs would get a two run homerun from Yasiel Balaguert in the bottom of the inning as the Captains fell to the Cubs, 9-7.                                                                                   

South Bend would strike first with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Kevin Encarnacion started the inning with a single. With one out, Jeffrey Baez would also single. Rashad Crawford would then double to drive in Encarnacion for a 1-0 lead. Charcer Burks followed with an RBI double to score both for a 3-0 lead.

The Captains would cut deficit to one in the top of the third inning. Steven Patterson would reach on a fielder's choice with one out. He would advance to second on a wild pitch before scoring on Greg Allen's RBI triple. Allen would then also score on Bobby Ison's RBI groundout.

The Cubs would answer right back with another three run inning. Jason Vosler walked to start the inning. Encarnacion would then double. With one out, Baez would walk to load the bases. Crawford would then single to drive in Vosler and Encarnacion. Baez would come around to score on a Charcer Burks' RBI sacrifice fly for a 6-2 lead.

Lake County would again cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Taylor Murphy singled to start the inning. With one out, Yu-Cheng Chang connected on his sixth homerun of the season. It was a two run homerun to cut the deficit to 6-4.

South Bend would get a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Yasiel Balaguert RBI double.

The Captains would tie the game in the top of the eighth inning. Murphy doubled to start the inning. A wild pitch would move him to third where he would score on an RBI groundout from Dorssys Paulino. With two outs, Francisco Mejia doubled to centerfield. He would then score to tie the game at 7-7 on Patterson's RBI single to righfield.

Burks would then walk to start the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs, Balaguert would connect on a two run opposite field homerun to rightfield to break the tie with the eventual game winning runs and a 9-7 lead.

Anderson Polanco got a no decision after going 3.0 innings. He allowed 6 runs, all earned, on 7 hits. Polanco walked 4 and did not strike out a batter. Julian Merryweather would then go 4.0 innings in relief. He allowed 1 earned run on 5 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out 3. Cameron Hill (4-3) took the loss in 1.0 inning of relief. He allowed 2 runs, both earned, on 1 hit. Hill walked 1 and struck out 1.

Anthony Santander singled in the top of the fifth inning on Friday night to extend his hitting streak to ten straight games. He is now tied with Claudio Bautista and Greg Allen for the longest hitting streak of the season.

The Captains and Cubs will continue their four game series on Saturday night in South Bend. First pitch is set for 7:05pm. Thomas Pannone will get the start for the Captains. All the action can be heard on 1330AM WINT.

Individual game tickets are on sale now at the Classic Park Box Office, Online at CaptainsBaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2015 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits.