Captains cannot slow Cubs

(Eastlake, OH) - The South Bend Cubs (17-23, 56-53) came out swinging on Thursday night and never let up. After a 33-minute rain delay pushed back the start of the ballgame, South Bend amassed 15 hits and rode behind strong pitching to earn a 10-2 victory over the Lake County Captains (18-21, 45-63) at Classic Park.
The Cubs scored early against Lake County starter Luis Jimenez . Luis Ayala led off the game with a single and stole second base. After Jimenez retired Aramis Ademan on a fly out, D.J. Wilson lifted an opposite-field, two-run home run to left field to give the Cubs a 2-0 advantage.

Jimenez silenced the Cubs' offense over the next four innings, but South Bend starter Bryan Hudson had a stranglehold on the Captains' offense. The Cubs' left-hander pitched five shutout innings and only allowed two hits, both of which were by Mitch Longo . Hudson struck out three Captains and did not walk a batter to help the Cubs hold onto their 2-0 lead.
South Bend pulled away down the stretch with runs in each of the final four innings. In the sixth inning, Chris Pieters led off with a double against reliever Ryan Colegate and Kevonte Mitchell singled home Pieters to push South Bend's lead to 3-0. The following inning, with Colegate still on the mound, Andruw Monasterio began the frame with a bunt single and Ayala followed with a single. Colegate retired Ademan on a ground out for the first out, but Wilson singled to score Monasterio and give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.
The Cubs added six more runs over two innings against Henry Martinez . Martinez hit Mitchell with a pitch to begin the eighth and then gave up a one-out single to Yeiler Peguero. Monasterio doubled in Mitchell and Ayala hit a sacrifice fly to plate Peguero, extending South Bend's lead to 6-0.
An error opened the door for four unearned Cubs runs in the top of the ninth. After a throwing error by Elvis Perez allowed Wilson to reach base to start the inning, Pieters doubled to knock in Wilson. Martinez issued a one-out walk to Mitchell and a single to Alberto Mineo that loaded the bases. Peguero then hit a grounder to second base that could have turned into a double play, but took a high hop and hit Jorma Rodriguez in the chest. Rodriguez settled for the out at first base while Pieters scored from third. Monasterio followed with a two-run single to give the Cubs a 10-0 advantage.
Lake County scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth. Conner Capel tallied a one-out single against reliever Chad Hockin. Longo then singled with two outs, bringing Li-Jen Chu to the plate. Chu doubled down the right field line to score Capel. Longo then scored on a wild pitch, but Hockin struck out Tapia to end the game.
Hudson (6-3) took home the victory for the Cubs. Jimenez (2-5) suffered the loss after allowing two runs in four innings. Jimenez allowed three hits, walked two and struck out two.
Despite the loss, Longo had a successful day at the plate. The Captains' right fielder went 3-for-3 with a double, two singles, a walk and a run scored.
Lake County has lost the first two games of its three-game series against South Bend and will finish the series on Friday night. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2017 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.