Lugnuts drop 1-0 pitchers' duel in 1:50

*SOUTH BEND, Ind. – *A day after winning a game with 22 combined runs and 28 hits, the Lansing Lugnuts (24-29) fell victim to first-rounder Cade Horton and a quartet of relievers in a swift 1-0 loss to the South Bend Cubs (27-26) on Wednesday night at Four Winds Field.

The game was completed in just one hour and 50 minutes, the Nuts’ quickest nine-inning game since a 1-0 loss at Cedar Rapids on May 24, 2009, that was completed in 1:46.
The only run of the game came in the second inning. With one out, Kevin Made and Yohendrick Piñango doubled off Lansing starter Brady Basso, putting runners at second and third. Luis Verdugo followed with a liner to right-center, where right fielder Jonny Butler made a stunning diving catch. Made tagged up at third and came in on the sacrifice fly, giving South Bend a 1-0 lead – a score that would never change.

Lugnuts starter Basso tossed three innings, striking out two while allowing one runs on two hits and one walk. He was followed to the mound by Joelvis Del Rosario, who was magnificent: five scoreless innings of one-hit relief, walking two while whiffing five Cubs.

But the Lansing pair was outpitched by their Cubs counterparts, led by the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft. Horton struck out ten batters in five innings, limiting the Nuts to a first-inning Euribiel Ángeles single and a fourth-inning Daniel Susac double. Adam Laskey then handled a perfect sixth, Eduarniel Nuñez gave up a Susac single and a Junior Pérez walk but induced a double play from Jack Winkler for a scoreless seventh, Joe Nahas pitched around a leadoff Sahid Valenzuela single in a scoreless eighth, and Zac Leigh fired a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap up the four-hit shutout.

South Bend star center fielder Kevin Alcántara was ejected after being called out on strikes following a check-swing appeal in the fifth inning.

With the two ballclubs splitting the first two games of the series, Lansing sends right-hander Jake Garland to the mound for the third tilt, opposed by South Bend right-hander Brandon Birdsell at 7:05 p.m. Thursday.

The Lugnuts play South Bend through Sunday before returning home to take on the Peoria Chiefs from June 13-June 18. Tickets are available via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500.

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