Cubs Drop Series Opener to Whitecaps 4-2
Published on June 26, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Cubs News Release
South Bend, IN: With Chicago Cubs star Yu Darvish on the mound, the South Bend Cubs carried a 2-1 lead into the top of the 8th inning. Darvish exited his rehab start with the South Bend after five innings and five strikeouts with just three hits allowed. However, the Cubs bullpen could not hold onto the lead and the West Michigan Whitecaps topped South Bend 4-2 in the series opener.
Darvish entered Monday night's game without live game action since May 20th when he earned the win against the Cincinnati Reds for the Chicago Cubs. Although two of his hits allowed were both extra-base hits, a double from Reynaldo Rivera and a solo home run from Joey Morgan, Darvish settled in the rest of the outing.
In his post game press conference, Darvish said that his goal was to pitch four innings. By going five full frames, he rated his feelings on the performance a 12 out of 10. As the start went along, Darvish got some silly swings at his breaking pitches. The most off-balanced swing came on his fourth strikeout, where he threw a 63 mile-per-hour breaking pitch to get Rivera swinging.
The Cubs offense got Darvish off the hook on a Miguel Amaya double in the bottom of the 5th. Jumping out to the 2-1 lead, South Bend could not hold on as the Whitecaps forced a game-deciding rally in the top of the 8th.
With three runs off of the originally scheduled starter Javier Assad, West Michigan jumped in front. The game winning runs were scored when Jose Azocar and Eric De La Rosa both came home on a throwing error made by third baseman Austin Filiere.
South Bend received a leadoff hit from Jared Young in the bottom of the 9th, and had the winning run at the plate in Brandon Hughes, but they could not retaliate. Will Vest picked up his third save of the year with two scoreless innings pitched.
With the loss, the Cubs drop to 38-36 overall and 4-1 in the second half. They will look to salvage game number two of the series tomorrow night when left hander Brendon Little takes the mound for the Cubs. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Four Winds Field.
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