Beloit, WI - For just the third time this season, the South Bend Cubs have lost a six-game series. After being swept in Sunday’s doubleheader by the Beloit Sky Carp by final scores of 1-0 and 2-0, the Cubs dropped five of six games to Beloit this week. The Sky Carp are one of two teams to own a series win against the Cubs this season, with Fort Wayne being the other with a pair of them.
Starting game one of the doubleheader was rehabbing Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon. The 34-year-old last pitched in the MLB with the Cubs on June 7, before suffering a hamstring injury that has kept him out since. Taillon became the 18th different Chicago Cubs player to rehab with the South Bend Cubs since 2015, and the second Cubs starting pitcher in the last month to do so. Matthew Boyd pitched with South Bend in Fort Wayne in June.
Taillon struck out the first man he faced in game one, getting Starlyn Caba swinging on a changeup. Beloit would then pick up three straight singles off of Taillon, with one being an infield single. None were hit overly hard. Jesus Hernandez then came up and drove in the game’s lone run on an RBI sacrifice-fly for a 1-0 lead.
The big right-hander struck out Wilson Weber to start the 2nd inning on a sweeper. He would finish with the two strikeouts and the one run allowed. Taillon worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 3rd inning, and got the first out of the bottom of the 4th before departing. The final out he made was a 1-3 putout on a comeback grounder to the mound.
Kevin Valdez checked in out of the South Bend bullpen after Taillon wrapped up, and Valdez was excellent. He worked 2.2 perfect innings and retired all eight men that came up against him.
Offensively, although the Cubs were shutout in both games, each game was very different. In game one, South Bend did not have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position until the 7th inning. Beloit game one starter Brayan Mendoza tossed six scoreless innings, and Justin Storm secured the save and ended the game with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
In game two, the Cubs had many more chances, leaving 11 men on base and going 0/7 with RISP.
Alfredo Romero started game two for South Bend, surrendering a 1st inning home run to Carter Johnson. Johnson had three home runs over the course of the weekend. From there, and after a walk to the next hitter, Romero really locked in and sent down the next seven men that came to the plate.
Although the game stayed at 1-0, the Sky Carp continued the throw the ball well, getting three shutout frames from their game two starter Peyton Fosher. Sotuth Bend grounded into two key double plays in the game; One to end the top of the 3rd, and one to end the top of the 5th. In the 4th and 5th innings, South Bend did not strike with the bases loaded.
Following Romero wrapping up his outing after four innings, Kenten Egbert and Nate Williams tossed the next two. Beloit picked up their second run in the bottom of the 5th via a sacrifice-fly RBI.
In the series loss, South Bend was shutout three times through the week with the last before Sunday being on Tuesday.
South Bend will look to respond when the team continues its 12-game road trip at Cedar Rapids beginning on Tuesday night. First pitch in Iowa is set for Tuesday at 7:35 PM EST. That series will take the Cubs into the All-Star Break, with the next home game at Four Winds Field slated for Friday, July 17.