Cubs even up series in Quad Cities with 5-2 victory

Davenport, IA: After dropping last night's series opener to the Quad Cities River Bandits, the South Bend Cubs still found themselves with an opportunity to hop into the first playoff sport in the Midwest League Eastern Division with a solid performance on Thursday night. Thanks to a lights out night from the bullpen, and some late power, the Cubs got it done from Modern Woodmen Park by beating the River Bandits 5-2.

Thursday night's action got started just as last night did; an early Quad Cities lead. Against starter Javier Assad, who took a no-decision, the River Bandits plated the first two runs of the game with a pair in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Thankfully for Assad, he worked out of even more damage on two occasions.
In two separate frames, Assad escaped a bases loaded jam with no damage. In total, Quad Cities left 12 men on base and went 0/9 with runners in scoring position. For Assad, the two lone runs given up allowed the Cubs to have the opportunity to come back.
They did just that by not surrendering the lead for the rest of the game starting in the 6th inning. Three runs in the frame led the Cubs to their 48th overall win on the season. The first two runs of the inning came on an error made by the catcher Michael Papierski. On a throw made by first baseman Colton Shaver, Papierski dropped the ball, allowing both Clayton Daniel and Rafael Narea to score.
With a tie of 2-2, South Bend didn't stop there. It took a double play in order to score the run, but Chris Singleton crossed home plate as the River Bandits turned a 4-6-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning. They took the risk and exchanged the two outs for a run. But that run by Singleton ended up being the game winning run.
A pair of insurance tallies came across home plate in the top of the 8th inning for South Bend. In his first round tripper with the club in 2018, Austin Upshaw launched a home run over the right field wall and into the Mississippi River to give the Cubs the 5-2 lead.  
The offensive surge was backed up by the Cubs bullpen. Garrett Kelly, Yapson Gomez, and Brian Glowicki combined for five innings of scoreless relief to put the game away. Kelly earned his first Midwest League win, while Glowicki picked up his 15th save.
With the win, the Cubs will look for the series win tomorrow night. Left hander Brendon Little is scheduled to start for South Bend with first pitch set for 7:35 p.m. ET.
Additionally, it was announced tonight that South Bend Cubs left hander Ricky Tyler Thomas was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for MLB righty Jesse Chavez. Thomas, the Cubs ace, was arguably South Bend's most consistent pitcher through the 2018 season. His time with the team finishes with a record of 3-5 and a 2.88 ERA in 15 appearances. He tossed 75 innings with 81 strikeouts and just 14 walks.