Cubs Flirt with Comeback, but Loons Escape and Win 4-3
South Bend, IN – For much of the late morning and early afternoon, the Great Lakes Loons kept the South Bend Cubs bats quiet in game two of their six game series. The Cubs did not draw a walk in the game, but they gave the Loons yet another late
South Bend, IN – For much of the late morning and early afternoon, the Great Lakes Loons kept the South Bend Cubs bats quiet in game two of their six game series. The Cubs did not draw a walk in the game, but they gave the Loons yet another late comeback to make it dramatic in the 9th inning and just came up short as Great Lakes took the 4-3 final.
The Loons evened the series at a game apiece, and both clubs now own a 24-17 record. The morning started with a primetime pitching match-up between Kyle Hurt and Jordan Wicks. Hurt, the former Miami Marlins prospect who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, cruised through five scoreless innings. He also punched out seven batters and lowered his ERA to 1.74.
Wicks was equally as dynamic through the first four innings. Last time out, the lefty went a career high in innings pitched with five. He matched that today, and fired five frames of one run baseball. The lone blemish for Wicks came in the top of the 5th as Great Lakes opened the scoring. The Loons received a double from Imanol Vargas, then he was pushed to third base on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter was Edwin Mateo, who launched a double up the right field line to score Vargas.
With a 1-0 game heading to the late innings, the first man out of the South Bend bullpen was big right-hander Walker Powell. Initially, Great Lakes had nothing to offer against Powell. He ended his 7th inning with a 1-4-3 double play. In all, the Cubs have turned a total of four twin-killings in this series.
Powell was tasked with pitching the 9th inning as well, and his main duty was to keep the game at 1-0 so the Cubs could have an opportunity to mount a comeback. Great Lakes struck with their most productive inning at the plate, however. Eddys Leonard crushed a solo home run over the left field wall, then Vargas came up again to hammer a two-run single into center field. The Loons had a commanding 4-0 lead with the Cubs down to their final three outs.
Still, no comeback effort seems to phase South Bend. They gave it their best shot to tie the game.
To start the 9th inning, Scott McKeon reached on a fielding error by the shortstop Leonard. On what seemed to be a routine play, Leonard’s throw was wide of first base. McKeon was then brought around courtesy of a Yohendrick Pinango double to get the Cubs on the board. Catcher Caleb Knight then stepped up following back-to-back outs recorded by Loons closer Jose Hernandez.
On a one-strike pitch, Knight hammered a ball into the left field home run porch to get the Cubs within a run. It was a 4-3 game with Fabian Pertuz coming up and South Bend down to their final out. In what was a battle of an at-bat, Pertuz went down swinging versus Hernandez and the Loons clawed their way out of a sticky situation to even up the series.
The Loons and Cubs will get together again on Thursday night for a 7:05 PM first pitch. Lefty DJ Herz is expected to take the ball for South Bend.