Cubs Split Doubleheader with ‘Rattlers 5-2, 3-0
Luis Devers wins second game of week, throwing five scoreless again
South Bend, IN – After a postponement on Saturday night, the South Bend Cubs and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were slated for a Sunday afternoon doubleheader to conclude their week-long series. In a split, the Cubs and Timber Rattlers split the twin-bill, with the Cubs losing Game 1 by a final of 5-2, and blanking Wisconsin in the second game 3-0.
It was an overcast and cloudy day all throughout the doubleheader, minus the sun poking through the clouds for a short portion of the first game. Game 1 was defined with Wisconsin answering anything South Bend threw at them. That included two separate comebacks.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in Game 1 in the bottom of the 1st inning after Ezequiel Pagan and Matt Shaw took walks to start the inning against Rattlers starter Bradley Blalock. The right-hander Blalock, who was acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Boston Red Sox for Luis Urias at the Trade Deadline, made his Brewers organization debut.
Blalock gave up the 1st inning run when Moises Ballesteros drove in Pagan on an RBI sac fly. Immediately, Wisconsin had an answer and tied the game at 1-1 in the 2nd. Once again, the Cubs led in the 4th when Felix Stevens extended his hitting streak to 15 games and homered off the batter’s eye in center field. It was Stevens’ third straight game with a home run, making it 2-1.
The home run ball would get Wisconsin back on top though, as 8-9 hitters Alex Hall and Jose Acosta hammered back-to-back homers in the 5th to put the advantage back on the Rattlers side. One more run in the 6th would ice it for Wisconsin, and they took the twin-bill opening victory.
Out of the bullpen, right-hander Johzan Oquendo made his South Bend Cubs debut with a scoreless top of the 7th inning. He was just promoted to South Bend from Low-A Myrtle Beach earlier this week.
After a jersey change from the camouflage jerseys to their home whites with the blue pinstripes all over, the Cubs came out ready for revenge in Game 2. So did Luis Devers.
The righty Devers won his second straight start on Tuesday night in dominating fashion over Wisconsin to open this series. He threw five scoreless innings with zero walks and six strikeouts. Sunday was no different. Devers had his swagger back, the same that won him the Chicago Cubs 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award.
Devers worked three perfect innings to begin the day, and ultimately had a perfect game going through 3.2 innings. The no-hit bid also ended in the same length due to back-to-back baserunners by Wisconsin. That didn’t matter. What did, was Devers’ changeup. It was majestic on Sunday, as many of Devers’ eight strikeouts came with the change. The eight K’s for Devers was one shy of matching a career high.
With Devers dominating on the mound, the Cubs backed him up with the bats. Christian Franklin had a two-hit day and drove in the the game’s first run in the bottom of the 3rd with a seeing-eye single.
In the 5th, it was Matt Shaw’s turn to do some damage. The Chicago Cubs 1st-round pick out of the University of Maryland came up in the middle of a rally as South Bend loaded the bases. Shaw punched a single into center field and plated home two more to take a 3-0 lead.
From there, the Cubs bullpen had things covered. Yovanny Cruz was credited with a hold with his shutout 6th inning, and Frankie Scalzo Jr. got the final three outs in the 7th, striking out two.
With the split on the day, the Cubs are four games out of a playoff spot, currently held by the Peoria Chiefs. However, South Bend has inched closer to the rest of the competition being just one game behind of both the Timber Rattlers and the Beloit Sky Carp.
Next up, South Bend embarks on their second 12-game road trip of the season when they take on the Lake County Captains on Tuesday night in Eastlake, Ohio. The six-game series against Lake County will be followed by another six games, but versus the West Michigan Whitecaps in the suburbs of Grand Rapids.
