Jason Heyward made a second appearance in South Bend, gathering two hits in his final rehab stint before returning to Chicago for Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay. (Photos by Emma Reese)

SOUTH BEND – With Jason Heyward in the starting lineup for the second consecutive night, the South Bend Cubs lost 8-2 to the Lansing Lugnuts in the finale of a four game series at Four Winds Field.

With the loss the Cubs are now 3-9 since the start of the second half.

HEYWARD’S CONTINUED REHAB: The 27 year old left-hander went 2-3 with a run scored in Monday night’s ballgame. With the two hits, Heyward is now 4-7 with two RBI and two runs scored in games played at Four Winds Field during rehab assignments.

After being replaced at the end of the sixth inning, Heyward stated he will return to Chicago and while he is not sure if he will be activated, he stated after the game that he feels ready to play.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Lugnuts got things going in the top of the third inning on Bo Bichette’s two-out double, which was then followed by a pass ball, a walk, and a wild pitch to allow Bichette to score without Lansing picking up a RBI.

In the fourth inning, the Lansing benefited from another wild pitch, a single, and a double to earn a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs came back in the bottom of the fourth as Luis Ayala and Heyward hit back-to-back singles followed by Kevonte Mitchell’s sacrifice fly and Andrew Upshaw’s RBI-double to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

Finally with some momentum on their side, the Cubs headed back out on defense looking to keep the game within one run, yet Cubs starter Erling Moreno continued to battle control issues and another wild pitch allowed Bichette to score again doubling the Cubs’ deficit.

From there the Lugnuts would go on to score four more runs through the course of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings capped by Bichette’s two run homer to put the Lugnuts up 8-2 leading South Bend’s Game 4 loss.

Erling Moreno hurls a pitch in Monday night’s 8-2 loss to Lansing

NOT IN THE ZONE: While South Bend’s starting pitcher, Erling Moreno threw just under 60 percent of his pitches for strikes, he also threw four wild pitches, which directly led to three of Lansing’s eight runs.

Moreno is now 1-3 on the season in 36 innings pitched for South Bend. In 30 innings pitched for the short-season Eugene Emeralds last season, Moreno went 2-1 with 0.90 ERA.

Many of Moreno’s struggles have come with two outs, which can be caused by a lack of focus near the end of the half inning. Having faced 30+ hitters with two outs this season, Moreno’s ERA is 6.75 and opposing batters are hitting .262 with seven walks.

Erling Moreno pitches for the Cubs Monday against Lansing.