River Bandits Prevent Comeback, Beat Cubs 12-7
South Bend, IN - At one point an 11-1 score, the South Bend Cubs never tapped out on Saturday afternoon against the Quad Cities River Bandits. South Bend had won back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday to even up the series, but the River Bandits swiped the weeklong advantage right
South Bend, IN - At one point an 11-1 score, the South Bend Cubs never tapped out on Saturday afternoon against the Quad Cities River Bandits. South Bend had won back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday to even up the series, but the River Bandits swiped the weeklong advantage right back with a 12-7 victory.
Luis Devers got the start for the Cubs, and surrendered two runs in the first inning. However, it could have been more as Devers limited the damage and QC left two men on base. Devers fired a 1-2-3 2nd inning, and the Cubs cut the lead in half when Jonathon Long plated Felix Stevens on a single, the first of his four RBI on the day.
The 3rd inning was where things went sideways, though. Quad Cities put together nine runs in the inning, the most runs surrendered by the Cubs in an inning this season. Quad Cities used eight straight singles to their credit, and then got a three-run homer from Trevor Werner to heighten their lead to double digits.
Still, the Cubs battled, and put up two runs in the 4th, and then another four in the 5th. The big drive was a Jonathon Long home run, his second of the series, crushed deep over the right field wall.
Reivaj Garcia also had an RBI hit, extending his hitting streak to five games. Also now with a hitting streak at five straight is Pedro Ramirez, who had three hits, along with a walk in the game. Jefferson Rojas also pushed his High-A best hitting streak to 14 straight games in the loss.
Long’s four RBI set a season high, and the comeback attempt for South Bend featured some strong work out of the bullpen. Right-hander Koen Moreno spun together three shutout innings, with two hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Moreno has pitched five shutout innings of relief in the series.
South Bend’s best chance came in the 7th, when they loaded up the bases with nobody out against lefty Oscar Rayo. Rayo hit a man, gave up a single, and walker a batter. He would go on to strike out two, and then finish off the inning with a groundout to finish it.
Also out of the South Bend bullpen, Grayson Moore worked two scoreless innings, in his most productive appearance as a Cub so far.
With the loss, South Bend is 6-14 on the season, and will try and split the series on Sunday afternoon in the finale. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM, with right-hander Tyler Schlaffer on the mound.