Hot Rods shutout Cubs 6-0 to open series

South Bend, IN: Through jamming fastballs, soft contact, and early run support, Bowling Green Hot Rods starter Tobias Myers tossed a clean seven shutout innings against the South Bend Cubs on his way to his ninth win of 2018. To open their Fourth of July week four game series, the Hot Rods whitewashed South Bend by a final of 6-0.

The 19-year-old Myers battled along with Cubs starter Brendon Little. Little, who gave up six runs in his last start at home against West Michigan, aimed for early command of all three of his pitches. Working a 1-2-3 top of the 1^st, Little got off to a solid start on Monday. 
But six runs combined from innings two through four quickly set the game apart. Little ran into trouble especially in the top of the 3^rd. On six hits in the 3^rd frame, the Hot Rods plated four runs. Little's early command did not continue through the middle frames. With six runs of support, Myers locked in. 
Myers earned the win by tossing the seven scoreless innings on 93 pitches. 58 were strikes for the right hander. The only real chance South Bend had against Myers came in the second inning when they loaded the bases. Myers worked out of the jam with no damage. 
After Little departed, Garrett Kelly came in and settled things down for the Cubs. In 2.1 innings, Kelly had a fastball touching 95 with a solid slider. He struck out three batters. Mitch Stophel threw the final two innings while not allowing a run and striking out one batter.  
The loss puts South Bend's overall record back to below .500 at 40-41. The Cubs now drop to 6-6 in the second half with game two against Bowling Green scheduled for tomorrow at 7:35 p.m. Left hander Ricky Tyler Thomas is expected to take the ball for South Bend in the final game of the nine-game homestand.