Cubs Come up Short in 11-10 Slugfest with Fort Wayne
MWL South Bend Cubs

Cubs Come up Short in 11-10 Slugfest with Fort Wayne

Published on May 3, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


South Bend, IN - The South Bend Cubs (12-12) dropped a shootout to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (12-15) on Sunday afternoon at Four Winds Field, losing the series finale by an 11-10 score. With the wind gusting out to center field, the TinCaps launched four of the game's seven home runs, winning their fifth game out of six in the series.

Fort Wayne opened the game with an ambush on left-handed pitcher Jackson Brockett, who made his first professional start on Sunday. The TinCaps launched two home runs off Brockett, who recorded only two outs in his outing, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Designated hitter Lamar King Jr. blasted off first with his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field. Catcher Carlos Rodriguez later went to right-center field with his third long ball of the year, a three-run rocket.

The Cubs erased the 5-0 Fort Wayne lead in lightning fashion in the bottom of the third, getting to TinCaps starter Abraham Parra. The inning started with back-to-back hit batsmen, setting up shortstop and No. 25 Cubs prospect Ty Southisene to double home two runs in his High-A debut. Right fielder Kade Snell followed with his first Four Winds Field home run, a two-run moonshot to right field. Third baseman Cole Mathis then made it back-to-back blasts, tying the game with a line drive to left for his first High-A home run.

What allowed the Cubs to knot the score at 5-5 was the work of right-hander Brayden Spears, who relieved Brockett with 2.1 scoreless innings. However, the TinCaps got after him in the top of the fourth, restoring their lead with a three-spot. Second baseman Rosman Verdugo rocked a go-ahead, two-run blast to left, rounding the bases on his fourth home run of the year. Right fielder Jake Cunningham later played wall-ball for an RBI double, pushing the TinCaps into an 8-5 lead.

The Cubs answered right back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two to close within a run. Snell and Mathis delivered the RBI, paying off walks from catcher Dilan Granadillo and left fielder Kane Kepley. Fort Wayne restored its three-run lead in the next half-inning, though, going up 10-7 on a two-run double from King Jr.

The game remained airtight in the second half, with the Cubs coming closer in the bottom of the fifth on Southisene's RBI single. Fort Wayne went right back ahead by three in the top of the sixth, as Cunningham hooked a solo home run, his sixth of the year, inside the left-field foul pole. The Cubs fired back in the bottom of the inning on a two-run detonation from first baseman Cameron Sisneros, whose fourth home run of the season left the stadium in right field. At the end of the six innings, the TinCaps led by an 11-10 score.

Going back to the sixth inning, the Cubs more importantly left two runners on base, unable to move third baseman Matt Halbach from second and center fielder Leonel Espinoza after placing them there with nobody out. That proved critical because, for whatever reason, both offenses dried up completely in the final three innings. Right-handers Grayson Moore and Ethan Bell combined to toss three hitless innings for the Cubs. However, they were matched by lefty Igor Gil and righty Clay Edmondson, who together delivered three shutout frames to win the game for Fort Wayne.

Both teams will play at home next week, the TinCaps hosting Beloit and the Cubs welcoming the Lansing Lugnuts to town. South Bend's first pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 6:05 PM on Tuesday, May 5.

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