Cubs Fall 4-2 in Extras
South Bend, IN - The Kernels got the better of the Cubs in 10 innings as the two teams wound up splitting the series 3-3 at Four Winds Field. Ricardo Olivar smoked a 2-run triple off Chase Watkins into right-center field that Brett Bateman dove and just barely couldn't snag
South Bend, IN - The Kernels got the better of the Cubs in 10 innings as the two teams wound up splitting the series 3-3 at Four Winds Field.
Ricardo Olivar smoked a 2-run triple off Chase Watkins into right-center field that Brett Bateman dove and just barely couldn't snag that gave Cedar Rapids their first lead at 3-1 in the extra frame. Rubel Cespedes followed with a sharply hit grounder to first that was misplayed by Brian Kalmer on a tough hop and led to a third run in the inning.
Pedro Ramirez got an RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning that plated Ed Howard, who began the inning as the ghost runner at second. But it wasn't enough as the Cubs fell just short chasing a second straight series win.
Watkins (2-1) suffered his first loss of the campaign, coming in for the 10th after Tyler Schlaffer (4.2 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 3 K) and Sam Armstrong (4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K) combined to work nine rock solid innings. Schlaffer tossed four straight scoreless frames to begin his day, maneuvering around lead off hits in both the second and fourth innings. After a leadoff single from Jose Salas began the fifth, the right-hander from the Southside of Chicago induced back-to-back groundouts and then a weak pop-up. The pop-up, off the bat of Luke Keaschall, floated into shallow right and Ramirez lost it in the sun, bringing home Salas to tie the game.
Had it been caught, Schlaffer would've gotten through five innings unscathed. Instead he allowed just one run in his longest outing since 2022.
Felix Stevens got the scoring started with a solo-homer that was sent towering the opposite way to right field off the bat of starter Christian MacLeod. The round-tripper was a team-leading seventh of the year for the Cubs minor league home run champ from a year ago.
McLoud tossed just two innings in his return after a month on the Injured List and the bullpen behind him combined to put up eight innings without allowing an earned run. Jordan Carr (3.2 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K), Jaconb Wosinski (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K), and Ricardo Velez (3.0, 0 H, R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) stymied South Bend's bats, combining to allow just one hit.
Yohendrick Pinango saw his hit streak end at 17 games and on-base streak halted at 25. The last five Cubs to reach a hit streak of 17 games have all failed to tally a hit in their next game.