9th Inning Rally Falls Inches Short in 2-1 Loss

COMSTOCK PARK, MI – If you blinked you might've missed all the action in this one. For the second night in a row the Cubs and the Whitecaps played a game that finished 2-1 and this one took less than two hours in front of a massive Wednesday night crowd of 6,986.

In game one West Michigan scored one run in the third inning and was held off the board the rest of the evening, well tonight the home side plated two runs in the first inning and again didn't down the stretch. The only difference is this time their run tally was enough to escape with a narrow victory.

Porter Hodge was stellar yet again for the Cubs, though he started a little rocky. Hodge walked Carlos Mendoza to start the game and the next two batters both singled, with Jace Jung picking up his second RBI of the series. With one out in the inning Trei Cruz hit one just deep enough to left field to plate Jake Holton from third base. That was it. Hodge bounced back rather remarkably, retiring eight straight batters after Jung's single, then issuing a walk before retiring five more in a row. He wound up tossing six innings, allowing two runs on only four hits, and striking out five.

South Bend's offense just never really got cooking until it was too late. The Cubs managed two hits in the second inning but failed to score as Kevin Made grounded into an inning ending double play. That was their best scoring chance of the night until the eighth and ninth. West Michigan brought in 2022 Oklahoma Sooner closer, and 10th rounder from this year's draft, Trevin Michael, and after he went 1.2 innings scoreless he walked Casey Opitz and Yeison Santana with two outs in the eighth. The Whitecaps made the move to Gabriel Sequeira to face Cubs number one prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong. PCA flied out to shallow center though and the game remained 2-0 Whitecaps into the ninth.

Adam Laskey came on for Hodge and tossed a scoreless seventh and eighth, working around three base hits with the help of two double plays. The Cubs bullpen has now worked nine scoreless innings this series.

For the second night in a row West Michigan turned to their closer Andrew Magno for the ninth and for the second straight time he allowed runners to get to second and third with nobody out. Jordan Nwogu drew a walk to start the final frame and Brennen Davis singled through the left side of the infield on a ball that was bobbled in left by Mendoza, allowing Davis to hustle for second base. Yohendrick Pinango grounded out weakly to Cruz but it was hit softly enough that Nwogu scored and Davis moved to third. Down 2-1 with the tying run standing 90 feet away the Cubs brought Luis Verdugo to the plate. With the infield drawn in, he sent a chopper over the mound that was gloved on a short hop by a lunging Cruz at short and he fired a strike home to nab Davis at the plate. Pablo Aliendo struck out next to end the game.

It marked the sixth straight game the Cubs have played that has been decided by one run.

Carlos Guzman delivered on the mound for West Michigan and got the win, going six scoreless innings and allowing just three hits. Tigers number one prospect Jackson Jobe was originally scheduled to start but was scratched early in the day.

With Beloit's win the lead for South Bend is back down to five games with 16 games to go. Meanwhile the Whitecaps trail Lake County by just two games in the East. Needless to say four crucial games lie on the horizon this week between these two sides. Game three is set for 6:35 ET on Thursday.