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MWL1 Lake County Captains

Cubs Stun Captains with Walk-Off

May 29, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(South Bend, IN) - The Lake County Captains (31-21) carried a three-run lead into the seventh inning on Wednesday, but suffered a walk-off loss at the hands of the South Bend Cubs (29-22) in game two of a three-game series at Four Winds Field. Jonathan Sierra's game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth scored Rafael Narea gave the Cubs a 5-4 victory.

The Captains got off to a fast start. Jose Fermin led off the ballgame with a solo homer to left field off of Cubs starter Faustino Carrera. Fermin's third homer of the year, his second to leaf off a game, gave the Captains a 1-0 lead. Ruben Cardenas later pulled a double to left with two outs and scored on a single through the left side by Mitch Reeves to extend Lake County's lead to 2-0.

Captains starter Luis Oviedo shut down the Cubs over the first three innings, holding South Bend scoreless on two hits. The Cubs, however, scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Durna doubled with one out, moved to third on a ground out by Sierra and scored on a wild pitch to trim Lake County's advantage to one run.

Another long ball helped the Captains expand their lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Righty Zach Mort came in to relieve the left-handed Carrera and walked Fermin to start the inning. Jesse Berardi then hit a towering fly ball down the right field line that sailed over the wall for a two-run homer.

Oviedo coasted through the first six innings. He needed just 67 pitches to get through six frames and held South Bend to one run on four hits. The right-hander nearly made it through the seventh, as well, but misfortune and one timely hit helped the Cubs come back. Oviedo got Sierra to pop out to Berardi in foul ground at third, Brennen Davis hit a one out single and Rafelin Lorenzo flied out to center for the second out. Gustavo Polanco then hit a tall pop up into shallow right field that looked like it might be the third out. Captains second baseman Connor Smith tried to follow the wandering ball, drifted back into shallow right and dove in vain, as the ball fell into the outfield grass for a dunk single.

The Polanco single put men on the corners with two outs and Oviedo hit Narea with a pitch to load the bases. After the hit-by-pitch, Skylar Arias came in to relieve Oviedo. Delvin Zinn stepped up with the bags full and slammed a line drive that skipped into the right field corner. All three runners scored and Zinn raced to third with a game-tying triple to even the score at 4-4.

Captains catcher Gianpaul Gonzalez was instrumental in keeping the game tied through the seventh and eighth innings. Gonzalez blocked a slew of balls in the dirt with the go-ahead run on third, several of which were so far to his left that the catcher could not slide far enough to block the ball and had to pick it with his glove. His efforts in the seventh kept Zinn on third, as Arias fanned Andy Weber to end that inning. In the eighth, Gonzalez again made blocks and scoops for righty Luis Araujo, helping him strand Tyler Durna on third with strikeouts of Lorenzo and Polanco.

The Cubs rallied to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, even though only one ball left the infield. Araujo walked Narea to lead off and Zinn dropped down a bunt toward first. Miguel Jerez charged from first and fielded the ball, but did not offer a throw to first, as Smith slid over from second to cover the bag. Edmond Americaan sacrifice bunted the runners to second and third, leading to an intentional walk of Weber to load the bases. Durna nearly won the game with a line drive that found the glove of Fermin at shortstop and Araujo pitched into a 2-2 count against Sierra. With the Captains one strike away from sending the game to extra innings, Sierra served a line drive into right field. The ball touched down in the outfield grass and Narea scored the game-winning run.

Mort (3-2) earned the win for South Bend. The right-hander allowed just two runs on two hits over four innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Araujo (0-1) took the loss. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one run on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

The Captains and Cubs have split the first two games of the three-game series and Lake County has gone 7-4 on its 12-game, 11-day road trip. The road trip wraps up on Thursday morning with the rubber game of the series in South Bend. If the Captains win, they will be the first visiting team to win a series against the Cubs at Four Winds Field this year. First pitch for the series and road trip finale is scheduled for 10:35 a.m.

Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

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