Cubs escape Nuts' ninth-inning rally

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Pinch-hitter Sahid Valenzuela and Max Muncy delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the ninth, but the Lansing Lugnuts (25-30, 50-71) fell short to the South Bend Cubs (34-21, 68-53), 4-3, in the opener of a six-game series on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field.

The result continued the Lugnuts’ stretch of tense road games: nine out of the last 13 games away from Lansing have been decided by two runs or fewer. Including Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs, the Nuts have a record of 7-2 in those games.

Trailing 4-1 entering the ninth, Lawrence Butler drew a leadoff walk from South Bend reliever Bradford Deppermann. Denzel Clarke grounded to third, moving Butler to second base, Jared McDonald drew a second walk, and Cooper Bowman lifted an infield-rule pop to second, bringing the Nuts down to their final out.

Valenzuela, pinch-hitting for Brayan Buelvas, snuck a single up the middle of the infield to plate Butler, pulling the Nuts within 4-2. Muncy followed with his own single to center, scoring McDonald and ending Deppermann’s night. South Bend turned to Jarod Wright, who promptly threw a wild pitch on his way to walking Joshwan Wright on four pitches, loading the bases.

But with the tying run 90 feet away and no room for error, Wright retired Shane McGuire on a comebacker, ending the rally and the game.

Before the ninth inning, the Lugnuts had been held to three hits: singles by Butler in the fifth and seventh inning, and a single by Wright in the eighth.

Lugnuts starter Grant Holman went four innings, striking out four batters while allowing two runs on four hits.
Mac Lardner also gave up two runs on four hits, albeit in 1/3 of an inning, before Brock Whittlesey rescued him with 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Kumar Nambiar then pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two around a double.

The Lugnuts notably caught South Bend Cubs attempting to steal second base in three straight innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning on Whittlesey’s first pitch upon entering the game, catcher McGuire threw out Owen Caissie. In the sixth inning, BJ Murray left too soon from first base, allowing Whittlesey to pivot about and throw to second base in plenty of time. And in the seventh inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong attempted to steal second against Whittlesey, but a perfectly timed pitch-out afforded McGuire the opportunity to thwart the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect.

2022 Athletics fourth-rounder Jacob Watters is expected to make his Lugnuts debut in the second game of the series, set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. South Bend will counter with right-hander Porter Hodge.

At the conclusion of the current road trip, the Lugnuts return home September 6-11 to close out the season against Dayton. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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