Timber Rattlers Edge Cubs 4-2 to Tie Series
South Bend, IN - In front of a packed education day crowd of over 6100 at Four Winds Field, the South Bend Cubs tried to follow up a victory from Tuesday which featured Drew Smyly working three perfect innings, to turn that into back-to-back W’s. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had
South Bend, IN - In front of a packed education day crowd of over 6100 at Four Winds Field, the South Bend Cubs tried to follow up a victory from Tuesday which featured Drew Smyly working three perfect innings, to turn that into back-to-back W’s. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had the bats working early on Wednesday morning, and executed all of their offense in the first two innings, taking Game 2 this week by a final of 4-2.
Right-hander Nick Hull took the hill for South Bend on Wednesday, and managed to spin together four full innings, but it was a tale of two sections of the start. Wisconsin took advantage of a pair of errors in the 1st inning scoring two runs, and plated two more thanks to two separate extra base hits in the 2nd.
From that point, Hull locked in and cruised through the rest of his outing. He struck out the side in the 3rd, and sent the Rattlers down in order during the 4th. The only problem, Wisconsin’s starter was just as good. Tate Kuehner struck out eight batters through five shutout frames, and earned the victory pitching with that four run safety net.
South Bend did have their opportunities though. The Cubs put the lead-off man on base for three consecutive frames, and eventually did cash in during the 7th with an RBI groundout from Ethan Hearn. Then in the 8th, Felix Stevens doubled home Jefferson Rojas to cut the lead in half.
Also at the plate, Jonathon Long clubbed South Bend’s first three hits of the day, all being singles.
Eventually, Wisconsin brought in their closer, Fishers native Craig Yoho, and he finished off the save. Out of the South Bend bullpen, Luis Devers worked 2.2 scoreless innings, Mitchell Tyranski added 1.1 shutout innings of his own, and Grayson Moore managed to work around a bases loaded jam to also hang a zero.
That gave the Cubs a chance, but Wisconsin shut the door and took the early game victory. With the series tied two games apiece, South Bend will look for the week’s advantage again on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. Right-hander Nick Dean is expected to make his Midwest League debut on the mound, after being promoted from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.