Cubs Collapse in Streak-Snapping 9-8 Loss to Fort Wayne

The South Bend Cubs (28-17) lost their eight-game win streak on Friday night at Four Winds Field, falling to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (23-26) by a 9-8 score. After scoring seven runs in the first inning and jumping out to a 7-0 advantage, the Cubs allowed four runs in the top of the ninth to lose the lead and the game.

Click here to view Friday’s box score.

Friday’s game featured an elite pitching matchup between No. 17 Chicago Cubs prospect Jostin Florentino and No. 4 San Diego Padres prospect Kash Mayfield, but neither man threw very well. In a decisive first inning, Florentino fired fewer than half of his 26 pitches for strikes, loading the bases with two outs on an error and two walks. The right-hander went on to strike out designated hitter Kavares Tears, though, keeping Fort Wayne from an early lead.

The Cubs then attacked Mayfield, who entered the game with a 17-inning scoreless streak, for six earned runs as part of a seven-run first inning. Mayfield only recorded one out, getting designated hitter Kane Kepley to ground out before South Bend unleashed its onslaught. It started with center fielder Josiah Hartshorn, as the switch-hitter batting right-handed cracked a two-run home run to left field. With his seventh long ball of the season and second of the week in South Bend, the No. 8 Chicago Cubs prospect has 10 RBI in his first four High-A games.

Later in the inning, second baseman Jose Escobar delivered his first hit and RBI in the Midwest League, ripping a run-scoring single to left field. Mayfield then hit a batter with an 0-2 pitch, forcing Fort Wayne to make a pitching change. On came right-hander Isaiah Lowe, who promptly allowed a no-doubt grand slam to first baseman Drew Bowser. The slam marked Bowser’s second home run of the season, his first blast at Four Winds Field, and a 7-0 lead for the Cubs.

Fort Wayne began to chip away right after that, walking five times against Florentino to limit him to three innings. Shortstop Jonathan Vastine launched a solo home run to right field in the second inning, getting the TinCaps on the board with his fourth round-tripper of the year. Fort Wayne then loaded the bases in the third but again came up empty; the TinCaps now have a dismal bases-loaded batting average of .121 this season.

The Cubs turned to their bullpen for the fourth inning, and Fort Wayne found two more runs against right-hander Brayden Spears. Each of the inning’s first three TinCap hitters reached, with second baseman Rosman Verdugo driving in two runs on a blooped single to right. South Bend pulled a run back in the bottom of the fourth, as left fielder Miguel Useche whacked an RBI single to left for his second hit of the game.

With Spears still out there, the TinCaps would plate two more runs in the top of the sixth, closing within an 8-5 deficit. The Cubs made two errors in the inning, and left fielder Alex McCoy provided an RBI single on the infield with two outs. However, McCoy made a critical mistake only moments later, as the TinCaps batted the tying run with men on the corners. With the trail runner stealing second, Cubs catcher Justin Stransky faked a throw to second before hurling to third, where McCoy was caught leaning off the base to end the half-inning.

Right-hander Grayson Moore came on after that and held the TinCaps scoreless for a while, but things fell apart in the ninth as the Cubs tried to milk three frames out of him. McCoy atoned by leading off with his 10th home run of the season, tightening the score to 8-6. It was only the second home run allowed by Moore in his career — and the first since April 2024. First baseman Jack Costello and Vastine then went back-to-back with one-out RBI doubles, tying the game at eight.

The Cubs scrambled their bullpen, bringing on right-hander Kenyi Perez in hopes of preserving the tie game. Perez couldn’t get it done, allowing center fielder Kasen Wells to slap a go-ahead single for his fourth hit of the night.

All the while, the TinCaps just so happened to have one of the Midwest League’s best relievers on the mound. Tricky right-hander Clay Edmondson had come on with Fort Wayne still behind 8-5 in the eighth, and he stayed in the game to pitch with the lead in the ninth, closing out the Cubs while working around Useche’s two-out single.

Still leading the series 3-1, the Cubs will face Fort Wayne again at 7:05 PM on Saturday. Right-hander Koen Moreno is scheduled to pitch for South Bend against Fort Wayne righty Abraham Parra.