Balk Comes Back to Bite Cubs in 4-3 Defeat to Quad Cities
April 30, 2022 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release
Davenport, IA - In game four of a six game series between the South Bend Cubs and Quad Cities River Bandits, a close battle between the two Midwest League West Division foes came down to the wire on a rainy night on the banks of the Mississippi River. Quad Cities won their third game in a row over South Bend and gave the Cubs their 11th loss of the season in a 4-3 final.
Hard throwing right-hander Daniel Palencia took the mound for his fourth start of the year, and his outing got better by the inning. In the top of the 1st, it was Quad Cities on the board first with a run coming home following Tyler Tolbert's lead-off base hit. Tolbert cycled around the bases quickly and scored the game's first run on a Palencia wild pitch. Shortly after, Peyton Wilson smoked a single into center field to make it 2-0.
The Cubs were quick to cut the lead in half, as Owen Caissie made his first appearance of the series and picked up a RBI on his double into the left-center field gap. The two-bagger plated Matt Mervis, but Caissie was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple. South Bend is still without a triple on the season.
Into the bottom of the 2nd, the clubs continued to exchange runs when Diego Hernandez smacked an RBI single off of Palencia. For the Cubs starter, his best inning of the game came in the 3rd on a 1-2-3 quick frame sending down the River Bandits in order. That energy from Palencia was preceded by a Fabian Pertuz solo blast that came on a line drive over the left field wall.
The round tripper was the sixth home run of the series for the Cubs, and it was a 3-2 Quad Cities lead after three innings. Out of the South Bend bullpen, Manuel Espinoza relieved Palencia and once again gave the Cubs an opportunity to mount a comeback. That's exactly what occurred when Pablo Aliendo tied the game on a laser single up the third base line in the 5th inning.
Tied at 3-3, Espinoza was cruising along until Luca Tresh began the bottom of the 5th with a lead-off double. He made it to third base when Kale Emshoff grounded out, and eventually scored after Espinoza was called for a balk. The run that was balked-in was the eventual game winning tally.
The best chance of the game for the Cubs game in their half of the 5th inning as they left the bases loaded. After the Aliendo double, South Bend had the bases loaded with no outs in the frame. With shutdown pitching from Quad Cities, the River Bandits got out of it with no further damage.
In the top of the 8th, Alexander Canario's 14-game on base streak was on the line as he was 0/3. On a pitch from Chase Wallace that clipped Canario on the arm, he extended the streak to 15 games on the HBP. Nicholas Padilla then struck out the side and blanked the River Bandits in the bottom of the 8th. The righty has not given up an earned-run in six innings this season.
As the Cubs were down to their final three outs, Ruben Ramirez picked up the save for Quad Cities with rain falling from the night sky to finish it out.
With the loss, the Cubs drop their record to 8-11 on the season and will look to snap their three-game skid tomorrow night at 7:30 PM EST. Right-hander Chris Clarke is expected to take the rubber for South Bend.
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