Errors sink Cubs Friday night in 7-1 loss

South Bend, IN: The South Bend Cubs came into Friday night at Four Winds Field on a three-game losing streak, while hoping to end the skid in game one of their series against the Lansing Lugnuts.

Sending Opening Day starter Ricky Tyler Thomas to the mound, the Cubs hoped that Thomas' 0.90 ERA could lead them to a victory. Thomas did his job. In five innings, the southpaw allowed three runs with none of them earned. Thomas struck out four batters and kept the ball on the ground for most of the night.
The South Bend defense made four errors on the night, resulting in the un-earned runs given up by Thomas. On the other side, Lansing starter Zach Logue was locked in from the start. Logue allowed just two hits, with one of them resulting in Yeiler Peguero's first home run of the season.
That was the only run that Logue gave up on the night. The Cubs did no other damage on Lansing pitching. With three players on the disabled list, including their best hitter statistically, Jared Young, South Bend had trouble Friday night getting consistent base runners.
Other than Peguero's home run, the only Cubs hit came on a single from Rafael Narea. Peguero walked twice, Miguel Amaya also had a walk, and Zach Davis was hit by the pitch. Combined, the Cubs had six base-runners on the night.
In total, the Cubs used three pitchers on Friday. After Thomas was taken out of the game, right hander Brendan King tossed two innings where he allowed two runs on three hits. Manuel Rodriguez pitched the final two frames and allowed two runs of his own.
South Bend's losing streak now extends to four games. Prior to this skid, the Cubs won five games in a row, which included a four game sweep of the Bowling Green Hot Rods.  
With two games left on the home stand this weekend, South Bend will turn to right hander Javier Assad tomorrow. Assad will make his third start of the year. He is 1-0 on the season with an ERA at 2.00. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.