Extra Inning Rally Falls Short as Chiefs Beat Cubs 6-5

South Bend, IN - On a day where his brother, Chicago Cubs infielder and former South Bend Cub Christopher Morel was traded, Rafael Morel had a career moment. As the Cubs faced the Peoria Chiefs in the series finale at Four Winds Field on Sunday, the big news of the trade quickly made way around the ballpark. C. Morel, along with former South Bend Cubs pitcher Hunter Bigge, and current South Bend right-hander Ty Johnson, were traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for 2017 South Bend Cubs infielder Isaac Paredes. As the game went along, R. Morel was leading up to his moment, a big one, although the Cubs fell 6-5 in 10 innings.

The game started with Erian Rodriguez on the mound for South Bend. Lefty Pete Hansen started for the second time this week, and both starters went blow-for-blow for the first three innings. Each starter worked three shutout frames, but it was South Bend grabbing the lead first.

Hansen sent down the first eight batters he faced, until Reivaj Garcia singled with two outs in the third inning. He did not score, but Pedro Ramirez led off the 4th with a base hit himself. The next batter was Jefferson Rojas, who cranked a deep drive over the left field wall for a long home run. The Cubs led 2-0 heading to the 5th.

Rodriguez put himself in line for the win with five scoreless innings, and Grant Kipp was the first man out of the South Bend bullpen. Kipp worked a 1-2-3 6th inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Peoria plated two runs in the 7th to tie things up.

After both teams went scoreless in the 8th and 9th, thanks to some strong bullpen work for the Cubs by Mitchell Tyranski, we went to extras.

Peoria loaded up the bases in the top of the 10th, leading to a Carlos Linarez grand slam for a 6-2 lead. It was the first homer of the year for Linarez, who slapped the game winning hit. The rally would not shut down the Cubs though, as South Bend rallied to get closer.

Parker Chavers was the Cubs automatic courtesy runner, and Jordan Nwogu walked to open the inning. Morel came up, just hours after his brother Chris was traded, and launched a moonshot home run over the left field wall. It was Morel’s fourth home run in the month of July alone, and it got the Cubs closer.

The next batter was Ramirez, who tripled off the center field wall. South Bend had the tying run 90-feet away, and the winning run at the plate. Peoria made a pitching change, bringing in right-hander Dionys Rodriguez. He was able to work out of the jam, and secure Peoria the victory.

With the loss, the Cubs settled for a series split against the Chiefs, and will head into an off-day on Monday. That will carry the team into a six-game road series starting on Tuesday night in Appleton, against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.