Cubs Ride Huge 8th Inning to 7-2 Victory

SOUTH BEND, IN - Sunday afternoon the Cubs offense sparked to life late to tie the game in the seventh and then used a huge five-run eighth to claim their second straight victory over Fort Wayne.

In the seventh the Cubs got the leadoff man on when Yerry Landiñez, in his High-A debut, took too long to deliver a pitch home and an automatic ball four gave Jordan Nwogu first base. Rafael Morel followed with a single and David Avitia walked to load the bases. A passed ball by that got by Addison Kopeck scored South Bend’s first run and a sac-fly from Reivaj Garcia tied the game.

South Bend’s bullpen was brilliant, and a scoreless eighth inning from Luis Devers gave the Cubs a chance to take the lead in the eighth with momentum still on their side. Angel Gonzalez had thrown a scoreless fifth and sixth, with Devers tossing two more scoreless, one-hit innings.

Dwayne Matos got the final two outs of the seventh and came back out for the eighth having not allowed a run since July 5. Well the Cubs tallied five runs against him to take the lead and put the game away. A walk to Andy Garriola and a grounder through the middle from Edgar Alvarez set the table for the big inning. Alvarez has now reached in all six games he’s played as a pro. South Bend took their first lead of the game on a double to right from Ed Howard that plated one and made it 3-2.

After Parker Chavers walked, Jordan Nwogu doubled two more in on a chopper that hopped over the third baseman’s head. Morel then smashed his second straight single to make it 6-2. After the first six batters reached base, David Avitia brought home the last run of the game with a sac-fly to right.

Brad Deppermann came on and closed the game out with a scoreless ninth.

Fort Wayne scored the first two runs of the game in the third off Cubs starter Erian Rodriguez. Rodriguez walked two in a row to start the second inning but a huge double play off the bat of Nick Vogt allowed him to work out of the inning unscathed. Next came the third when back-to-back walks began the frame for the second inning in a row. Rosman Verdugo broke his bat but found some green grass down the line in left for a two-run double.

The TinCaps didn’t score again.

Despite a few early chances that went by the wayside, the Cubs came back to pull out the victory. Reivaj Garcia and Pedro Ramirez picked up two straight hits to start the game and give the Cubs runners at second and third with no outs, but Jagger Haynes K’d the next three batters to put up a zero. In the second the young lefty gave up back-to-back one-out singles but again battled through adversity for a scoreless frame.