Cubs Match Season High with 15 Runs, Drilling Kernels 15-2

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Friday night the Cubs matched a season high with 15 runs, while setting season bests with 17 hits, five doubles, and seven extra-base hits in their 15-2 win over the Kernels.

Ethan Hearn began the scoring with a missile of a homer, stretching just over the wall in right field. The long ball extended Hearn’s on-base streak to 10 games, while giving him a second homer in four plate appearances, and five homers in his last 10 games.

Two more singles in the first didn’t lead to another run but it ran Ty Langenberg’s pitch count to 27. Cedar Rapids bullpen stirred in the first before Langenberg made it through the inning. He wouldn’t make it through the second though.

With one down the Cubs picked up five straight hits, igniting a five-run inning. Ed Howard, Edgar Alvarez, and Pedro Ramirez all singled to load the bases. An Andy Garriola single through the left side of the infield made it 3-0; Garriola has reached in every game as a Cub. Hearn came up next and sent a double down the line in right, scoring a pair and chasing the Cedar Rapids starter.

Jacob Wosinski came in and struck out the first man he faced. But after picking up three hits with two outs in the first inning, the Cubs had more two-out magic up their sleeves in the second. Jacob Wetzel ripped a double to the wall in right to add another run, and Jordan Nwogu snuck a single up the middle to cap a six-run inning.

Up 7-0, Nick Dean gave up a solo homer to Rixon Wingrove to right field to begin the bottom of the second. Dean retired six-of-the-last-seven he faced though, allowing just the one run and three hits in four innings.

Meanwhile the Cubs, after sending 10 the plate in the second, batted around again the next inning. Hearn picked up his fourth RBI on a sac-fly with the bases loaded to get the lead back to seven at 8-1. Cristian Hernandez was next and laced a triple deep to center off Nolan Santos to bring home two more. Wetzel followed with his second double and third hit in as many innings. Up 11-1, Ariel Armas hammered a two-out, two-run double to right-center to finish off another six-spot.

From there the game was well in hand.

Rubel Cespedes picked up an RBI double in the fifth to bring home the Kernels final run. The run came off Luis Devers, who wound up stranding the bases loaded in that inning. Devers came out with a clean sixth though and picked up the win.

Neither side scored again until the Cubs managed two runs and three hits in the ninth off Matthew Clayton, a position player pitching to end the game. Armas drilled his second double of the night to start the inning. Pedro Ramirez plated one with a single and Garriola’s sac-fly to right brought in the final run of the night.

Luis Deverrs, Nico Zeglin, and Angel Gonzalez combined to retired the last 14 Kernels.

South Bend has taken a 3-1 series lead and now lead the season series 6-4.