South Bend Holds off Peoria in 4-2 Win

South Bend, IN – After jumping out to an early lead, the South Bend Cubs were able to hold the Peoria Chiefs at bay en route to a 4-2 win Friday. The Chiefs dropped back to .500 on the season at 12-12.

After a 36-minute rain delay, the Chiefs went quietly in the top of the first. In the bottom half, South Bend benefited from a weird play. With two on and one out, Alexander Canario hit a sharp ground ball towards shortstop Masyn Winn, when the ball hit a Cubs base runner, resulting in an automatic second out. Instead of a possible double play, the inning continued. A Matt Mervis single made it 1-0 Cubs. Then, an infield hit plated Canario to make it 2-0.

After allowing five hits in the first inning, Peoria starter Austin Love rebounded nicely to put together a strong performance. The right-hander allowed just one hit over his next four innings of work and held South Bend to just the two runs through five innings while punching out four.

In the fourth, Peoria scratched a run across. A Francisco Hernandez single scored Mack Chambers to make it 2-1. Hernandez extended his on-base streak to 10 games with his knock.

In the bottom of the sixth, South Bend tacked on a couple of key insurance runs. Second baseman Fabian Pertuz doubled to the gap in right center to plate a pair and give South Bend a 4-1 advantage.

From there, Peoria tried to chip away. In the eighth, Masyn Winn led off the inning with a triple and he later scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 4-2. In the ninth, back-to-back hits from Thomas Francisco and Tommy Jew gave Winn another opportunity, this time as the go-ahead run. Winn punched out, however, to end the contest.

The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday from Four Winds Field in South Bend. Peoria will look to snap a five-game road losing streak and record their first road win since April 22. Game one is set for 2:35 EST/1:35 CST.