‘Caps Fall in Series Finale
SOUTH BEND, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps were unable to escape their six-game series with the split they were hoping for, as a walk-off fielder’s choice from Parker Chavers led to a 4-3 loss in 11 innings to the South Bend Cubs in front of 5,323 fans at Four
SOUTH BEND, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps were unable to escape their six-game series with the split they were hoping for, as a walk-off fielder’s choice from Parker Chavers led to a 4-3 loss in 11 innings to the South Bend Cubs in front of 5,323 fans at Four Winds Field on Sunday afternoon.
The loss puts West Michigan five games back of the Lake County Captains for the Midwest League Eastern Division lead with nine games remaining in the first half of the 2024 regular season. They now head home for a six-game series with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, who hold the best overall record in the Midwest League at 36-21, beginning Tuesday night from LMCU Ballpark.
The Whitecaps and Cubs series finale began with ‘Caps starter Jaden Hamm getting off to a rocky start by giving up a pair of runs in the opening inning. An RBI-single by Chavers and a wild pitch by Hamm helped South Bend jump out to a 2-0 lead. In the fourth, the Whitecaps blasted their way onto the scoreboard when Roberto Campos tallied his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot to slice their deficit in half at 2-1. The Cubs responded in the bottom of the frame when Jonathan Long launched his third home run of the series to give South Bend a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, Peyton Graham’s RBI-single highlighted a two-run West Michigan sixth inning to help tie the game at three, forcing the contest into extra innings. The Whitecaps offense missed out on a pair of opportunities to bring home the go-ahead run in the tenth and eleventh innings, leading to South Bend walking off the contest on Chavers’ fielder’s choice to score Jefferson Rojas to give South Bend a series victory, four games to two.
The Whitecaps, who have fallen in three straight games, drop to 29-28, while the Cubs improve to 26-31. South Bend reliever Mitchell Tyranski (2-3) delivered a scoreless inning out of the Cubs bullpen to earn his second win of the season, while new ‘Caps reliever Yosber Sanchez (0-1) received a tough-luck first loss with West Michigan. Campos finished the day going 3-for-5 at the place and a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. West Michigan went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight runners on base in Sunday’s contest.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps return home to conclude the first half of the 2024 season and open a 12-game homestand, beginning with a six-game series against the first-place Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Four Winds Field starting with a Jackson Jobe Bobblehead night on Tuesday at 6:35 pm. Pitchers Dylan Smith and Mark Manfredi get the starts for West Michigan and Wisconsin. To catch all the action, tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20 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.