Cubs Lead Early, but Can’t Surpass Loons in 7-4 Loss

Midland, MI - Despite holding a lead in the top of the 1st inning for the third consecutive game, the South Bend Cubs couldn’t find a way to topple the Great Lakes Loons for a second straight day on Saturday night. South Bend needed to win on Saturday to have a chance to split this series against the Loons on Sunday, after losing the first three games of the week. Great Lakes hung with the Cubs in a back-and-forth battle early in the game, and picked up insurance down the stretch to finish the 7-4 final score.

Saturday’s game started in the same fashion that Friday’s game did, with an Angel Cepeda solo home run in the second at-bat of the game. Cepeda crushed his homer over the left field wall, and it was 1-0 Cubs right away. Great Lakes answered with a single tally in their half of the 1st, via an RBI single by Jaron Elkins. A South Bend error helped Emil Morales come around to score.

The teams again exchanged runs in the 2nd, with South Bend getting an RBI-single from Brennan Hudson, and then Guo Cueto hammering a two-run Great Lakes homer for a 3-2 lead. South Bend held two leads early, and so did Great Lakes.

After the Cubs tied it at 3-3 in the top of the 3rd on a Matt Halbach RBI-single, Great Lakes went up 4-3 thanks to a Nico Perez double in the bottom of the 3rd. There was scoring in each of the first six half-innings in the game.

The difference in the game? Great Lakes right-hander Joseilyn Gonzalez. Like Tuesday, when he worked 3.2 innings of one-run baseball, Gonzalez was even more effective on Saturday. Gonzalez shut the door and sent down nine straight Cubs consecutively, working 3.2 innings of shutout baseball.

That allowed the Loons to stay in front by a run, and then ultimately set the table for them to grab some insurance. It was MLB top-100 prospect Emil Morales coming through late, picking up a run scoring double in the bottom of the 7th, and then a two-run single in the bottom of the 8th. In between those three runs, the Cubs picked up a tally via a pair of doubles from Josiah Hartshorn and Kade Snell. Snell doubled twice in the game.

But instead of a one-run deficit going to the 9th, it was a three-run rally needed thanks to the second Morales clutch hit. In the 9th, South Bend gave it their best shot, as Hudson singled against his former Georgia Bulldogs college teammate Davis Chastain, and then Jose Escobar walked. Chastain would shut things down, striking out the last man he faced to cap off the win.

With the loss, South Bend has lost the series, dropping four of the first five games. The Cubs will have the chance to pick up one last week this week in the finale on Sunday at 1:05 PM EST. Sole possession of the best record in the Midwest League is on the line Sunday, as South Bend’s total record is 64-45. Great Lakes is 63-46.

Left-hander Ethan Flanagan will get the start the Cubs in the final game from Dow Diamond this week.