SOUTH BEND, IN - Another night of freezing temperatures finally chilled the bats of the West Michigan Whitecaps, as they fell to the South Bend Cubs by a score of 1-0 in front of 3,832 fans at Four Winds Field on Saturday night.Tweet from @wmwhitecaps: We drop our first road
SOUTH BEND, IN - Another night of freezing temperatures finally chilled the bats of the West Michigan Whitecaps, as they fell to the South Bend Cubs by a score of 1-0 in front of 3,832 fans at Four Winds Field on Saturday night.
Runs were hard to come by, and players were swinging early in counts, leading to a game which lasted a time of just 2:05. It was the fastest nine-inning game played by the Whitecaps since June 28 of last season when the Whitecaps and Dayton Dragons completed a game in an even two hours. The game began with temperatures of 31 degrees and finished at 27 degrees.
West Michigan had their best scoring chance in the third when Zac Shepherd, Brady Policelli, and Cole Peterson each singled to load the bases with none out. After Luke Burch struck out, Garrett McCain bounced into a fielder's choice where Shepherd was forced out at home plate, and Jose Quero grounded out to second to end the threat. In the fifth, Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya scored on a wild pitch by Whitecaps starting pitcher Eudis Idrogo to give South Bend the only run they needed in the contest. In the ninth, McCain reached on an infield single before being caught stealing later in the frame. With two outs, Jordan Pearce nearly tied the game with a towering fly ball caught at the wall by Cubs right fielder Brandon Hughes to end the game.
South Bend pitcher Javier Assad (1-0) tossed five scoreless innings allowing just three singles while striking out five to earn his first win of the season. Whitecaps starting pitcher Eudis Idrogo (0-1) was one out away from escaping with five scoreless frames of his own before delivering the wild pitch to allow the only run of the contest to suffer his first loss of 2018. Manuel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his first save of the season. Chris Singleton and Rafael Narea each had two hits to lead the Cubs, while the Whitecaps failed to send a hitter on-base more than once throughout the contest. The Cubs improve to 1-1, while the Whitecaps fall to an even 1-1 record.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps finish their season-opening home-and-home series against the South Bend Cubs Sunday at 2:05 p.m. Pitcher Garett King gets the start for West Michigan against South Bend pitcher Erich Uelman. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 1:55 p.m. Tickets are available for any Whitecaps 2018 home contest by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or by visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
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