Cubs Overcome 7-0 Deficit, Top Fort Wayne 12-10
May 26, 2021 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release
What a wild game in Downtown South Bend.
The pendulum swung back and forth in grand fashion Tuesday night at Four Winds Field.
Max Bain gave up 6 runs in the first inning, an inning he would not escape. After striking out the first batter of the game, the Cubs starter allowed the next five batters to reach, including a two-run shot to right from Agustin Ruiz and a three-run towering homer to center from Dwanya Williams-Sutton.
Alex Katz came in to finish the inning for South Bend, but they trailed by six before ever stepping up to the plate.
Fort Wayne added a run in the fourth to make it 7-0 and Gabe Mosser was dealing on the mound for the TinCaps, tossing five shutout innings and allowing just one batter to reach base.
But the South Bend bullpen did enough in the middle innings to keep the game from getting too far out of reach. The Cubs bats came to life in the sixth, showcasing a power display not yet seen from this club in 2021.
Slaughter singled back up the middle to start the inning, and with one out the rally ignited. Delvin Zinn singled and with two runners on Cole Roederer put the Cubs on the board with a two-RBI double to dead center. Then Brennen Davis uncorked his second homer in as many games and South Bend all of a sudden trailed just 4-3.
But the inning wouldn't end there.
With two outs and no one on base Tyler Durna roped a double down the line in right. Nelson Velazquez followed with a moonshot blast down the line in left and the Cubs put up a six-spot to trim the deficit to one run at 7-6.
But Fort Wayne rallied right back scoring two runs in the seventh to make it a 9-6 TinCaps lead.
After the bottom of the seventh there was a brief moment of tension as Fort Wayne reliever Samuel Williams appeared to say something to Delvin Zinn that rubbed him the wrong way. Tensions boiled over one batter into the following inning after Brandon Hughes struck out Kelvin Melean. The benches cleared, punches were thrown, a baseball was thrown, and havoc broke out.
When the dust settled Hughes, Jake Washer and Melean were ejected and soon Manager Michael Ryan would be ejected in the aftermath.
That lit a fire under South Bend.
Davis led the next inning off with a double and after Chase Strumpf was hit by a pitch, they pulled off a double steal. Tyler Durna drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Two of the next three batters drew walks to drive in runs and get it back to a one run game at 9-8.
And then things got a little Hollywood.
Bryce Windham, who subbed in for the ejected Washer, shot a two-run single the other way into left-center field to give the Cubs their first lead of the night. And Delvin Zinn, who was involved in the events that led up to the brouhaha, drove in two more with a double to put the Cubs up 12-9.
Samuel Reyes would allow a run in the ninth but with the tying run at the plate induced a groundout to Durna to end the game.
It was one of the craziest nights this ballpark has seen in a longtime and the South Bend Cubs came out on top and have now won four straight to climb back to .500 at 9-9.
Next up: RHP Moises Lugo (0-1, 4.15 ERA), vs. RHP Derek Casey (1-2, 5.68 ERA).
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