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Peoria Escapes 9th Inning and Edges South Bend 5-3

July 16, 2022 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


Peoria, IL - After winning the first three games of their six-game series to start the week, the South Bend Cubs fell to the Peoria Chiefs on Friday by a final of 5-3 for only their second loss versus Peoria this season. With the defeat, South Bend is 14-2 against Peoria this season, and have another opportunity to guarantee themselves a series victory on Saturday.

Earlier in the day on Friday, both DJ Herz and Jordan Wicks were promoted to the Double-A Tennessee Smokies. South Bend's roster did not gain any players, but both lefties had already pitched in the series. It was righty Manuel Espinoza getting the start for the Cubs as he looked to keep a five-game winning streak alive for the Cubs.

Like the previous three days in this series, South Bend got on the board in the 1st inning. On Tuesday, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong barreling a lead-off home run. Wednesday had the Cubs scoring six runs in the 1st inning, and yesterday they plated four. Tonight, Fabian Pertuz started things with a single, and he was quickly brought home on an opposite field home run by Yohendrick Pinango.

Pinango's round tripper gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead, and it also brought his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games.

Espinoza's first inning was a good one with a 1-2-3 finish, but he ran into trouble in both the 2nd and 3rd. In each inning though, Espinoza worked around adversity and forced Peoria to leave the bases loaded. The Chiefs did get a run in the 3rd, however, as Todd Lott doubled home Tommy Jew to cut the lead to 2-1.

Finishing his stat line with five walks, Espinoza's pitch count was elevated to over 70 after four innings. Out of the bullpen first was righty Jarod Wright. In his last outing, Wright tossed 5.2 innings versus Wisconsin.

Wright's outing did feature long relief, but the Chiefs bats finally came to live in the series in the middle innings. In the bottom of the 5th, LJ Jones launched a two run homer to give Peoria their first lead of the series at 3-2. Later in the 8th, Osvaldo Tovalin singled home a pair of runs on a two-strike and two-out pitch to give the Chiefs some insurance.

Down to their final three outs, South Bend started the top of the 9th inning by sending Pertuz to the plate. He crushed a high drive towards the left field wall, and it had the distance for a home run. At the top of the fence, Tyler Reichenborn leaped up and robbed Pertuz of touching them all. It ended up being the big moment of the game.

As the 9th went on, the Cubs received a RBI single from Casey Opitz, and with two outs and runners at the corners. The tying run was at first base, but the game ended with a strikeout and the Chiefs took their first win of the week.

The two clubs will get together again on Saturday night at 7:35 PM EST. Flame-throwing right-hander Daniel Palencia is the expected starter for South Bend.

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