Marcano Fans Nine in Defeat
SOUTH BEND, IN – An outstanding performance by starting pitcher Carlos Marcano wasn’t enough as the West Michigan Whitecaps fought heavy rains and a few innings that didn’t go their way as part of a 10-1 loss in eight innings to the South Bend Cubs in front of 5,978 fans
SOUTH BEND, IN – An outstanding performance by starting pitcher Carlos Marcano wasn’t enough as the West Michigan Whitecaps fought heavy rains and a few innings that didn’t go their way as part of a 10-1 loss in eight innings to the South Bend Cubs in front of 5,978 fans at Four Winds Field on Saturday night.
The lone bright spot for West Michigan came on the mound, as Marcano tossed five excellent and tied his career high while setting a Whitecaps season record with nine strikeouts in the contest. The Whitecaps committed four errors in the ballgame and have watched their offense go silent, collecting just four base hits and only seven total hits in their past two games with three total runs, heading into their series finale on Sunday, needing a victory to finish the series with a split of their six-game set with South Bend.
Saturday’s contest saw South Bend score first in the third as Cubs catcher Ethan Hearn came home as part of a double steal to take a 1-0 lead. Jefferson Rojas’ RBI-single extended the lead to 2-0, but the ‘Caps countered in the fourth as Max Anderson’s run-scoring single brought West Michigan within a run at 2-1. Unfortunately, that was as close as the ‘Caps came, as the Cubs exploded for eight runs over their final two innings at the plate, taking advantage of a driving rain. Ed Howard’s RBI-double in the sixth highlighted a three-run inning, and Ethan Hearn’s two-run homer punctuated a five-run seventh to balloon the lead to 10-1 and end the scoring in the contest and send South Bend to its third win of the first five games of this series.
The Whitecaps drop to 29-27, and four games back of first-place Lake County, while the Cubs improve to 25-31. South Bend reliever Carlo Reyes (1-1) delivered two scoreless innings while striking out four to earn his first win as a Cub. Hearn finished the night 3-for-4 and was triple shy of hitting for the cycle for South Bend, scoring three runs and three RBIs in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps conclude this six-game series against the South Bend Cubs from Four Winds Field with a Sunday matinee at 1:05 pm. Whitecaps pitcher Jaden Hamm, coming off the first loss of his professional career, gets the start for West Michigan against South Bend starter Nick Dean. To catch all the action, tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 12:50 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids. Don’t miss out on the excitement; get your tickets for all 2024 home contests, or listen to the games live at whitecapsbaseball.com.