Home Runs Help Cubs in 5-1 One-Hitter Against Whitecaps

The South Bend Cubs (66-45) won their series opener against the West Michigan Whitecaps (53-60) by a 5-1 score on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field. Left fielder Kade Snell and center fielder Josiah Hartshorn each hit home runs for South Bend, augmenting an elite performance from the pitching staff.

Click here to view Tuesday’s box score.

Shortstop Bryce Rainer, the No. 3 Detroit Tigers prospect, opened the scoring early for West Michigan with a solo home run. With one out in the first inning, Rainer climbed high off the batter’s eye on his 15th home run of the year.

South Bend starting pitcher Jostin Florentino bounced back from the home run brilliantly, retiring 11 consecutive Whitecaps. The right-hander matched his season highs in innings (5.0) and strikeouts (7), conceding only two total baserunners. Since August began, Florentino has allowed just two runs across 14.0 innings.

Right-hander Rayner Castillo also pitched well around home runs for West Michigan, striking out nine in 5.2 innings. However, the home runs proved far more important than the strikeouts, beginning with Snell’s solo shot in the second. Snell cracked his eighth home run of the year off the videoboard in right field, tying the game.

The tie game would hold until the sixth inning, when the Cubs batted the top of their order. Second baseman Jose Escobar led off with a four-pitch walk, bringing up Hartshorn with the go-ahead run on base. The No. 1 Chicago Cubs prospect delivered, crushing an opposite-way home run to left. Hartshorn now has 19 round-trippers for the full season, including 14 at the High-A level.

The Cubs added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, eliminating the need for a save situation. Again, Escobar reached to lead off the inning, later scoring on a single to right-center from Hartshorn. Third baseman Matt Halbach brought the game to its final score with a sacrifice fly.

South Bend’s lead fell in good hands with righty relievers Brayden Spears, Adam Stone, and Yoendris Gonzalez, who combined for 4.0 scoreless innings. Spears picked up his eighth win of the season, striking out four, while Stone struck out the side in the top of the eighth. Gonzalez then wrapped things up with a scoreless ninth. In total, Cub pitching finished with 16 strikeouts on Tuesday.

The Cubs and Whitecaps will tangle again in game two of the series at 7:05 PM on Wednesday, August 19. Right-hander Braylon Myers is scheduled to start for South Bend against West Michigan lefty Ben Jacobs.