The South Bend Cubs (54-35) beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (48-40) once more on Thursday night at Four Winds Field, scoring a 4-2 win. The Cubs have won five consecutive games, including the first three in this week’s series against Wisconsin. Thursday's win occurred in front of the highest attendance in South Bend Cubs history (10,071).
Click here to view Thursday’s box score.
Pitching dominated game three of the series for the most part, as each starting pitcher delivered a season-high 5.0 innings. Left-hander Ethan Flanagan took the ball for South Bend on short notice, striking out four and walking only one to earn his first win as a starter this year. Right-hander Daniel Corniel opposed him for Wisconsin, retiring seven of his final eight batters to grind out an effective start.
Wisconsin could have had the game’s first run right away, but a baserunning mistake proved costly. With a runner at first, center fielder Braylon Payne smacked an extra-base hit down the right-field line. Payne didn’t check the runner ahead of him, heading for third under the impression that the runner would score, but that runner stopped and forced Payne into an out. The Cubs instead struck first in the bottom of the inning, as right fielder Jose Escobar clubbed an RBI triple to right-center, scoring first baseman Josiah Hartshorn after his ground-rule double.
Both top-100 MLB prospects playing in Thursday’s game launched a home run, beginning with Wisconsin designated hitter Luis Pena in the third inning. The No. 2 Brewers prospect belted a no-doubter to left field for his second home run of the year, tying the game. South Bend answered right back in the bottom of the third, turning two walks into a run. Left fielder Kade Snell provided the key hit, serving an RBI double down the left-field line to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
All offense quieted down until the seventh inning, when South Bend grabbed a pair of runs. This time, it was the new top prospect in the Chicago Cubs system going deep, as Hartshorn blasted a two-run long ball to right-center. Hartshorn now has 16 home runs on the year, including 11 in High-A, as a 19-year-old.
South Bend’s bullpen provided the night by covering four innings and maintaining the lead. Right-hander Ben Johnson covered the first half of the relief work, navigating a two-out rally in the top of the sixth inning. Johnson left two runners on base in that frame before using a double play to post a scoreless seventh. After Johnson, right-handers Luis Rujano and Ethan Bell combined to record the final six outs of the game, although Wisconsin scratched a run across in the top of the ninth.
With South Bend leading the series 3-0, the Cubs and Timber Rattlers will start the weekend with game four at 7:05 PM on Friday, July 24. Right-hander Alfredo Romero is scheduled to pitch for South Bend against Wisconsin lefty J.D. Thompson.