Luis Ayala walked with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning and the Cubs bullpen threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings as the South Bend Cubs (24-27, 63-57) defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps (33-18, 59-62) 7-6 in front of a crowd of
Luis Ayala walked with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning and the Cubs bullpen threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings as the South Bend Cubs (24-27, 63-57) defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps (33-18, 59-62) 7-6 in front of a crowd of 6,206 on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field.
Fort Wayne, the Class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, put up three runs in the top of the second inning while barely hitting the ball out of the infield. First baseman G.K. Young led off with a single to right. After a strikeout and a wild pitch that advanced Young to second, catcher Kyle Overstreet beat out an infield single to short to put runners at the corners. Another wild pitch allowed Young to score and advanced Overstreet to second. Centerfielder Buddy Reed then beat out a swinging bunt to third and when the throw by the third baseman went wide, Overstreet scored and Reed moved to second. Shortstop Reinaldo Ilarraza continued the parade of infield singles as he beat out a bunt back to the mound that put runners at the corners again for the TinCaps. Left fielder Tyler Selesky lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Reed and gave the TinCaps a 3-0 lead.
South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, struck back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, catcher Alberto Mineo beat out a single to short and went to second on a wild throw by the Fort Wayne shortstop. Third baseman Andruw Monasterio flared a single into left that put runners at the corners and designated hitter Chris Pieters cut the lead to 3-1 on a groundout to first base that scored Mineo and moved Monasterio over to second. First baseman Jhonny Pereda grounded a single to right that scored Monasterio but Pereda was retired when he tried to take second on the throw to the plate, leaving the TinCaps lead at 3-2 as the game moved on to the top of the third.
The TinCaps were not content with a one-run lead as they plated two more runs in the top of the third inning. Right fielder Jack Suwinski led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. Young then reached on a two-base error when the Cubs left fielder could not make the play on a fly ball and Suwinski advanced to third. Hudson Potts followed by lacing a line drive single to center that scored both Suwinski and Young to give the TinCaps a 5-2 lead.
The Cubs answered immediately again and this time took the lead as they scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Second baseman Yeiler Peguero walked to lead off the inning. Peguero stole second before right fielder Luis Ayala walked to put runners at first and second. Shortstop Aramis Ademan beat out a bunt to the pitcher and the bases were loaded with no outs. A balk advanced all three runners and cut the lead to 5-3 before center fielder D.J. Wilson doubled down the right field line to tie the game at 5-5. With one out, Wilson scored on an error by the TinCaps first baseman and the Cubs had a 6-5 lead.
The TinCaps tied the game in the top of the fifth against Cubs starter Bryan Hudson. Potts led off the inning by lifting a fly ball just over the left center field wall for a solo homerun that tied the game at 6-6.
Both bullpens did a good job keeping the offenses under wraps for most of the game. Will Headean replaced TinCaps starter Ronald Bolaños to start the bottom of the fourth and threw three scoreless innings before making way for Dauris Valdez. Valdez threw two innings before he was replaced by Jordan Guerrero (L, 0-1) to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Yapson Gomez came on in relief of Hudson in the middle of the fifth inning and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings before Chad Hockin replaced him to start the top of the eighth inning. Hockin kept the TinCaps off the scoreboard through the eighth and ninth innings and was replaced by Elvis Diaz (W, 1-0) to start the tenth.
The Cubs broke through for the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning. Pieters led off with a double to the wall in deep center field. Pereda squared to bunt but was hit by a pitch and runners were at second and third. Peguero got the bunt down and Guerrero fumbled it attempting to field, loading the bases with nobody out. That brought up Ayala who watched four straight pitches go wide to force in the game winning run with a literal walk-off.
The Cubs continue their homestand on Wednesday night as they meet the Fort Wayne TinCaps for the third game of a four-game series. Erling Moreno (1-3, 3.77 ERA) will take the mound for South Bend while Reggie Lawson (3-5, 5.64 ERA) gets the start for Fort Wayne. It is World Champion Wednesday where the Cubs will celebrate a key moment from the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Championship. It is also Silver Sluggers night where seniors ages 55 and older can purchase a discounted ticket to the game. Finally, there is also a South Bend Cubs T-shirt giveaway as the first 1,000 fans through the gate will receive a South Bend Cubs T-shirt.
