SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Tonight, at the ballpark the weather was clear and fair, but the Cubs would suffer a defeat at the hands of Peoria 3 to 1.
Tonight's game simply came down to the clutch moments and unfortunately for the Cubs, they couldn't get the big hit when they needed it! The chiefs struck early, scoring two runs in the first off Cubs' prospect Jostin Florentino. He struck out four but walked three over three innings.
South Bend had chances but could not cash in. The Cubs left the bases loaded in the second, then loaded them again in the fifth. Josiah hartshorn was hit by a pitch to bring in their only run, but Peoria’s bullpen escaped the jam.
The bright spot for South Bend was the bullpen. Brayden Spears tossed three and a third hit-less innings with six strikeouts, and the Cubs relievers held Peoria to just one run over the final six frames.
But Peoria’s bullpen was even better, throwing four and two-thirds hit-less innings to close it out. The Cubs catcher, however, says the team is more than ready to adjust and respond in tomorrow night's come back game.
Justin Stransky, the South Bend Cubs catcher told us “Losing is never fun but you know it’s a long season, and we got to just get back right on the horse, especially this close to clinching the first half. We got to just keep on winning. We felt like we were in that game the whole time and we knew we were never out of it down until the last strike, so we are always going to just keep on grinding, keep on pushing and do whatever we can to get that win.”
The series is now tied at two wins apiece, and that actually causes major playoff implications. South Bend had a chance to win the Midwest league West Division’s first-half title today with a win and a Wisconsin loss, but the opportunity slipped away. Tomorrow however –they will have another chance to take home the first half title.
The Cubs and Chiefs will play their fifth game of the series at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow night. Right-hander Koen Moreno is scheduled to start for South Bend against Peoria righty Jacob Odle.