Cubs hold on and top Loons 4-3

Midland, MI: The Great Lakes Loons made it interesting against the South Bend Cubs on Saturday night from Dow Diamond with a late rally that cut the South Bend lead to just one run. Up 4-0 heading to the 9th, South Bend made two errors in the inning but held on and got past the late Loons comeback bid to win 4-3.

The Cubs had total control of the game most of the night thanks to a hot start at the plate and shutdown starting pitching by Peyton Remy. Remy put together one of his better starts this season with 5.1 scoreless innings and just three hits allowed. The right-hander matched a season high on strikeouts with six.
Offensively, South Bend provided early run support with a big top of the 2nd inning against Great Lakes starter Kevin Malisheski. The tall righty worked 1-2-3 innings in the 1st and 3rd innings but had trouble in the 2nd. The Cubs smacked five hits in the inning alone and scored three runs. This included an Andy Weber single for his 120th hit this year.
South Bend scored their final run of the night when Darius Hill blooped a ball into right field to score Gustavo Polanco. A close throw to the plate was late as Polanco slid in safely.
Out of the bullpen, Fauris Guerrero provided a spark for the Cubs and did not allow a run through 2.1 innings. The right-hander also struck out a season high six batters.
Great Lakes made a valiant effort in the bottom of the 9th and almost completed their comeback. After two errors were made, the Loons received a double by Jair Camargo to score one run. Then Leonel Valera sprinted home on a wild pitch, followed by a RBI ground out by Matt Cogen.
Medina shut the door after the Cogen at-bat by getting Chris Roller and James Outman to both fly out. He picked up the save and Remy earned his fourth win. Additionally, Chicago Cubs 2019 second round pick Chase Strumpf made his Midwest League debut tonight. The UCLA product went 0/4 in the game.
With tonight's win, the Cubs improve to 67-55 on the season and separate themselves by a game over the Lansing Lugnuts for the wild card. Because of a Lansing loss, South Bend now leads the wild card by two games. Since Bowling Green also lost, the Cubs are now just two games back of first place in the Eastern Division.