Cubs Pull Through against Peoria 3-2 on Hernandez's First South Bend Homer
April 10, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release
The thermometer read 41 degrees with the wind blowing in from center field, but don't tell that to South Bend Cub shortstop Cristian Hernandez. The 11th-ranked Chicago Cubs prospect cranked his first home run of 2025, breaking a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning of Thursday night's 3-2 South Bend defeat of the Peoria Chiefs. Having won the first two games of the series, the Cubs now hold a 2-3 record, while the Chiefs have dropped each of the season's first five.
The Cubs gave the ball to starting pitcher Jaxon Wiggins for his second start of the campaign and his first at Four Winds Field in 2025. The organization's No. 10 prospect brought the juice early, striking out three in the first inning. He would go on to work four innings with only an unearned run and no hits allowed, punching out four and closing his start with a groundball double play in the fourth. Peoria's first run came home via a Wiggins error in that fourth inning, as the right-hander barehanded a grounder off the mound and fired it off the tip of first baseman Brian Kalmer's glove.
In a repeat performance of Tuesday's home opener, the South Bend offense took some time to get warmed up to the game. Peoria starting pitcher Darlin Saladin, the Cardinals' No. 17 prospect, set down each of the first eight Cubs he faced. South Bend nearly broke through by putting two runners on for left fielder Andy Garriola, but he lined out sharply to right, keeping the contest scoreless at the time. Of note, shortstop Cristian Hernandez singled to set up the threat, extending his season-opening hit streak to five games, a stretch that extends to seven games with the tail end of 2024 included.
Behind 1-0 at the game's midpoint, South Bend in the bottom of the fifth did exactly what Peoria had done in the top of the fourth: take the lead without recording a hit. Designated hitter Ariel Armas worked a leadoff walk on 11 pitches to put the tying run on base. He then scored as second baseman Reginald Preciado slow-rolled a ground ball that Peoria threw into the South Bend bullpen in an attempt to retire the lead runner at second base. Another Chief error brought a run in on the next pitch, which center fielder Carter Trice cued to first base. Peoria first baseman Johnfrank Salazar made a smooth sliding stop but left the ball behind as he rose up to touch the bag.
Peoria's bullpen settled in after South Bend's chaotic fifth inning, retiring nine consecutive Cubs to keep the 2-1 score intact entering the eighth. Left-hander Marino Santy had just spun three shutout innings, and he handed the keys to the eighth inning over to fellow southpaw Burl Carraway. After recording the first out, Carraway allowed four consecutive Chiefs to reach, the last driving in a run via a bases-loaded pitch clock violation in a full count. More importantly, in the grand scheme of things, he didn't concede any additional runs, using a strikeout and grounder back to the mound to strand the bases loaded.
With the game tied at two in the bottom of the eighth, Hernandez wasted no time restoring South Bend's lead. On another frigid night with the wind blowing in, he led off the half-inning with a booming solo home run down the left-field line, the Cubs' first long ball of 2025. It also marked the first round-tripper for Hernandez as a South Bend Cub and stood up as the game-winner.
Right-hander Sam Thoresen made sure of that fact by capturing the save with a scoreless ninth inning. Peoria briefly put the tying run in scoring position with a Jon Jon Gazdar two-out double, but Thoresen stared down Miguel Villarroel at the top of the order and struck him out looking to end the game. Carraway walked away with the winning decision, his first since the 2021 season.
The Cubs will aim to guarantee a split of the six-game series on Friday night in advance of Saturday's doubleheader. South Bend and Peoria will open play at 7:05 PM on Friday, with right-handers Nick Dean (Cubs) and Juan Salas (Chiefs) scheduled to pitch.
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