Cubs Rally Back From 9th Inning Four Run Deficit to Beat Chiefs in Extras 5-4

South Bend, IN – While trailing by a score of 4-0 in the 9th inning and down to their final two outs of the game to work with, the South Bend Cubs certainly earned the moniker “Comeback Cubs”. South Bend put away their most dramatic win so far in 2022 and were victorious by a final score of 5-4 in 10 innings versus the Peoria Chiefs.

The series opener between the affiliates of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals came down to the wire. The three heroes at the plate, Alexander Canario, Matt Mervis, and Bradlee Beesley, all had signature moments late in the game. In the 9th, it was Canario and Mervis crushing back-to-back home runs for the second time in a week. They accomplished two straight round trippers in the last away series at Quad Cities.

Canario’s two run blast deflected off the batter’s eye in center field, while Mervis’, which tied the game at 4-4, was a line drive shot over the right field wall. In the top of the 10th, Eduarniel Nunez worked a scoreless frame, even after a wild pitch brought Peoria’s automatic courtesy runner to third base with nobody out.

Nunez then got the next three outs consecutively to give South Bend a chance to walk it off. That’s exactly what occurred as misty rain fell on top of Four Winds Field for the last third of the game. Edmond Americaan pinch-ran at second base as the automatic runner, and Beesley came to bat as the second man to face Enmanuel Solano in the bottom of the 10th.

On a ball laced up the middle into center field, Beesley provided the Cubs with their second walk-off win at home in as many games. Americaan scored and Beesley was herded by his teammates jumping around first base.

To set up the comeback win though, the South Bend bullpen needed to be on point. It was left-hander DJ Herz starting the game, and he battled through to work three scoreless innings. The southpaw walked five batters and punched out four. He took a no-decision as his season ERA fell to 1.06

Following Herz’s departure, Bailey Reid tossed two shutout frames. Then Peoria manufactured their runs off-of Nicholas Padilla and Hunter Bigge, as the right-handers gave up two runs each. It was the first earned runs charged to both Padilla and Bigge all season. Both hard throwers though combined for seven strikeouts.

Also playing a part in the Cubs big victory was Luis Verdugo. He cracked three base hits against Chiefs pitching and raised his batting average to .317.

With the series opening win, South Bend is up to double digit wins on the year with a 10-12 record. The Cubs will be right back to it Wednesday morning to host Peoria for game two of the six-game set at 11:05 AM as the team plays in their first “Education Day” game of the season. Right-hander Kohl Franklin is expected to be on the mound for South Bend.