Cubs Open Hot At Dayton
DAYTON, OHIO – South Bend pitchers Kyle Miller and Kyle Twomey combined to scatter seven hits as the Cubs defeated the Dayton Dragons 6-1 in the first game of a three-game series on Monday at Fifth Third Field.
Miller and Twomey combined to allow one hit in seven different innings, but the Dragons could advance only two runners past first base on the night. South Bend pitchers walked only one and struck out nine.
The win allowed South Bend to hold onto first place in the Midwest League East Division with six games to play in the first half season. They began the day with a one-half game lead on Lake County and full game lead on West Michigan. The top two teams in the division qualify for post-season play in September.
South Bend scored in the first inning before the Dragons tied the game in the third. Argenis Aldazoro began the Dayton rally with a single to right field and was forced at second on Mitch Trees’ ground ball to shortstop. Zack Shields walked to move Trees to second. Kevin Garcia then hit a bouncer to third. Jesse Hodges fielded and stepped on third base for the force on Trees, but he threw wildly to first, allowing Shields to score to tie the game at 1-1.
But the Dragons did not seriously threaten to score the rest of the night. South Bend broke the 1-1 with two runs in the fourth, then got a solo home run from Ian Rice in the sixth. They added one more in the seventh and one in the ninth to close out the scoring. Eddy Martinez went 4 for 4 to lead a 13-hit Cubs attack.
Dragons starting pitcher Jacob Constante (2-7) suffered the loss. He worked six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
The Dragons seven hits were all singles. Zack Shields and Argenis Aldazoro each had two hits.
The Dragons (17-47) host the Cubs (38-24) on Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field at 7 p.m.