Fort Wayne Evens Series Against Cubs In 3-2 Final
August 31, 2023 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release
Fort Wayne, IN - The Fort Wayne TinCaps have tied up this week's series against the South Bend Cubs at Parkview Field after the 'Caps took down the Cubs by a final of 3-2. All scoring in the game took place between the 3rd and 5th innings, and South Bend had an opportunity at the end with both the winning and tying runs on, but the TinCaps escaped and survived with the victory.
On a picture-perfect night in Fort Wayne, the night started with Cubs righty Connor Noland, and TinCaps starter Henry Baez each hanging zeroes in the first two innings. Noland, who had 12 innings combined of one-run baseball this season against Fort Wayne, looked sharp with three strikeouts through two innings.
South Bend never trailed in the opener on Tuesday, but that storyline flipped on Wednesday with the TinCaps never falling behind. They were on the board first in the bottom of the 3rd against Noland. Anthony Vilar doubled to begin the frame, and then after an error and sacrifice bunt, Sammy Zavala got Vilar in on an RBI groundout. Later, Nerwilian Cedeño smacked an RBI single.
The TinCaps added a run in the 4th, but the big thought about Wednesday's game was that they could have had more. In each of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, Fort Wayne made an out at third base on base running mistakes. South Bend took advantage of each, and it kept them in the game.
The 5th inning got South Bend back in the game. Ed Howard led off the 5th with a base hit, but was subsequently caught stealing. The next batter was Christian Franklin, who smacked a long-gone home run over the left field wall. It was South Bend's third homer in two games the series. Later in the 5th, Josh Rivera doubled, then was plated on an RBI single from Brennen Davis.
Davis had two more hits Wednesday, and now has four in the series. Ed Howard was on base all four times, two by hit by pitches, and two base hits.
Out of the bullpen, Derek Casey put together his best outing since coming back to South Bend from Tommy John Surgery. In two shutout frames, Casey faced seven batters, and struck out five. Yovanny Cruz added a quick-paced 8th inning, and South Bend went to the 9th down 3-2.
In the 9th inning, the Cubs got a lead-off hit from Howard, and then another from Rivera. Eventually, Howard was at third, and Rivera was at second, but right-hander David Morgan locked things down and finished off the game in a big victory for Fort Wayne.
The West Michigan Whitecaps defeated the Lansing Lugnuts, so the TinCaps remain 2.5 games back of first place in the East Division. The two clubs will go at it again on Thursday night at Parkview Field, with first pitch set at 6:35 PM. Right-hander Grant Kipp will be on the mound for South Bend.
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