South Bend scores 10, evens series with Chiefs
South Bend, IN – A steady stream of South Bend runs buried the Chiefs (41-47, 9-13) in a 10-4 defeat on Saturday night at Four Winds Field, setting up a Sunday afternoon rubber match. Jack Martinez made his High-A debut for the Chiefs on the mound and faced early adversity
South Bend, IN – A steady stream of South Bend runs buried the Chiefs (41-47, 9-13) in a 10-4 defeat on Saturday night at Four Winds Field, setting up a Sunday afternoon rubber match.
Jack Martinez made his High-A debut for the Chiefs on the mound and faced early adversity after a 1-2-3 first inning. South Bend opened the scoring in the second, as Jose Escobar doubled and then scored on a sacrifice fly.
In the third, the Cubs pushed in three runs on two hits and an error, pushing the deficit to 4-0.
Peoria managed base runners in all four innings against South Bend starter Alfredo Romero but couldn’t score.
Michael Hallquist socked a two-run home run in the fourth to make it 6-0 Cubs.
With Ty Van Dyke on the mound, the Chiefs fell victim to bad luck in the sixth. Angel Cepeda started the frame with a double that landed just past a diving Luis Pino in left field. Hallquist scored him on a sac fly to make it 7-0. Logan Poteet kept the inning going with a softly hit floater down the first base line that turned into a double. Christian Olivo followed with a bloop double of his own down the right field line, scoring Poteet to make it 8-0.
The Chiefs tightened things up with an eighth inning rally.
With the bases loaded, Jalin Flores worked a walk to break up the shutout. Michael Dattalo poked a two-RBI single to right field to make it 8-3, and Ian Petrutz brought Peoria back within four with an RBI knock of his own.
South Bend tabbed Ethan Bell, who ended the rally with a strikeout of Sammy Hernandez. He eventually earned a save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
The Cubs got two of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Olivo sent a fly ball to center. Underneath a smoky sky, Petrutz lost the ball in center, resulting in a two-RBI triple.
Peoria will play for a series win on Sunday, sending Tanner Franklin to the mound for a 1:05 pm CT first pitch. Chiefs fans can tune into the hometown audio broadcast for free online at PeoriaChiefs.com.
The Chiefs return to Dozer Park to begin a six-game series with West Michigan on Tuesday night at 6:35pm. Tickets are available online at PeoriaChiefs.com.