Cubs battle back to take series finale 6-3

Comstock Park, MI: In the series finale at Fifth Third Ballpark against the West Michigan Whitecaps, the South Bend Cubs were presented with the opportunity to gain even more ground on the Eastern Division wild card spot after winning the series last night. However, in order to win, they had to make it past major leaguer Jordan Zimmermann.

Zimmermann, making his third rehab start in the Detroit Tigers minor league system and first with the Whitecaps, took the mound for game five against the Cubs. South Bend's offense got off to a roaring start in the top of the 1st inning with three straight singles off of the Tigers $100 million dollar man.
On Jhonny Bethencourt's RBI hit, Roberto Caro came around to score to put South Bend in front 1-0. The Cubs were fortunate to get to Zimmermann early. After the up-and-down first inning, the right hander settled in and went on to finish with 5.1 innings of one run ball. He allowed seven hits and struck out six.
On the mound for South Bend was lefty Brendon Little. The Cubs number six overall prospect cruised through his start until he left with an apparent injury in the bottom of the 5th. Little struck out four batters through 4.2 innings. Right hander Ben Hecht came in immediately to replace Little. Hecht surrendered three runs to West Michigan in the bottom half of the 6th, the Whitecaps took the 3-1 lead.
The Cubs would not stay down for long, however. Their bats came alive for a late rally when they scored five unanswered runs from the 7th inning on. After Zimmermann left, right handers Oswaldo Castillo, Will Vest, and Aaron Fernandez each saw time on the mound. Vest took the loss by giving up two runs on four hits.
Michael Cruz picked up another RBI and finished the series 8-for-16. In the top of the 9th, Chris Singleton blasted his second home run of the season to deep left field. That was the Cubs final run in the 6-3 final.
Right hander Garrett Kelly threw the final two innings to earn his first save of the season. Hecht took the win to bring his record to 3-0.
With the victory, South Bend eliminates the Whitecaps from playoff contention in the first half. Even with taking four out of five games from West Michigan, the Cubs find themselves still 6.5 games back of the wild card, which currently belongs to the Lansing Lugnuts.
Next up for South Bend is a three game set versus the Dayton Dragons. First pitch from Four Winds Field tomorrow night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.