Amaya HR ruins Logue's gem, 1-0

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In a game played in one hour, 56 minutes, the South Bend Cubs (19-25) defeated the Lansing Lugnuts (29-17), 1-0, on Wednesday night at Four Winds Field.

Miguel Amaya 's leadoff home run in the eighth inning supplied the game's only run.

The story of the game until Amaya's roundtripper was the pitching duel between two left-handers, Lansing's Zach Logue and South Bend's Brendon Little .

Little, the Chicago Cubs' first-round selection in 2017, limited the Lugnuts to three hits - a Kevin Smith double, and singles from Andres Sotillo and Brock Lundquist - in seven innings, facing two batters over the minimum while striking out five.

Logue (Loss, 3-1) appeared to be even better, holding the Cubs to a mere Chris Singleton two-out double in the third inning through the first seven frames. In the eighth, however, Amaya broke the deadlock with his sixth home run of the season, a long drive over the bleachers in left. Logue finished off the inning, erasing a Christian Donahue single by coaxing a double-play grounder from Rafael Narea.

In all, the Nuts' left-hander used 90 pitches, 69 for strikes, notched four strikeouts, and recorded 11 outs on the ground in the finest start by a Lugnuts pitcher in 2018.

Facing South Bend right-hander Brian Glowicki with two outs in the ninth, Smith thumped his second double of the game and Lundquist received an intentional walk to put the tying and go-ahead runs on. Samad Taylor grounded into a game-ending fielder's choice to third, however, finishing the game.

Cubs reliever Ben Hecht (Win, 2-0) pitched around an HBP in the eighth inning to pick up the victory. Glowicki recorded his fifth save.

In defeat, Smith finished 2-for-4 with his MLB/MiLB-leading 22nd and 23rd doubles of the season. The Lugnuts' shortstop leads the Midwest League in hits (62), extra-base hits (33), total bases (112) and slugging percentage (.675), and ranks second in batting average (.373).

The Nuts go for a split of the four-game series at 10:35 a.m. Thursday, sending right-hander Donnie Sellers (5.40 ERA) against South Bend right-hander Rollie Lacy (2.59 ERA).

The next Lugnuts home game at Cooley Law School Stadium will be on Friday, May 25th, opening a seven-game homestand against the Fort Wayne TinCaps and Lake County Captains. To purchase tickets and live the Lug Life, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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