Nuts force extras in 9th, fall in 10th

LANSING, Mich. - Blanked through the first eight innings, the Lansing Lugnuts (21-20, 64-47) rallied for four runs in the ninth before falling in ten innings, 5-4, to the South Bend Cubs (17-23, 51-58) before a Friday night crowd of 7,374 at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The Lugnuts wrapped up the season series with 12 wins in 20 meetings, though the Cubs avoided a three-game sweep.

Entering the ninth down 4-0, Ryan Noda drew a leadoff walk from Jake Steffens, Chad Spanberger singled to right-center and Norberto Obeso put the Lugnuts on the board with a two-run triple to center field. Vinny Capra , called up earlier in the day from Vancouver, doubled in Obeso to pull the Lugnuts within 4-3.

The Cubs called upon closer Brian Glowicki to stem the tide, only to see shortstop Delvin Zinn mishandle a Jesus Navarro ground ball, bringing in Capra with the tying run.

In the tenth inning, however, a Jimmy Herron check-swing infield single against Andrew Deramo (Loss, 2-4) brought in Clayton Daniel with what proved to be the game-winning run.

Glowicki (Win, 2-5) set the Lugnuts' 2-3-4 hitters, Chavez Young , Noda and Spanberger down on a fielder's choice, strikeout and groundout in the home half of the tenth, ending the Cubs' eight-game losing streak.

The game began with a pitchers' duel.

Nuts starter Jordan Barrett matched zeroes with the Cubs' Ryan Williams through the first six innings before Rafael Narea broke the deadlock with a one-out RBI single in the seventh, followed by a successful Chris Singleton squeeze for a 2-0 lead.

Jimmy Herron knocked his Cubs home run in the eighth inning, a two-run shot off Dalton Rodriguez , to put the visitors up, 4-0, setting the stage for the ninth-inning drama.

Capra and Navarro each went 2-for-4 for the Nuts in the losing cause.

The Lugnuts next travel to Fort Wayne on a three-game road trip through Monday, returning to Cooley Law School Stadium on Wednesday, August 8th, for the start of a seven-game homestand. To purchase tickets and live the Lug Life, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
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