“We put a lot of pressure on them,” Dragons manager Bryan LaHair said. “We’ll continue to come hard around second base and force the outfielders to speed up and make a poor decision, especially at this level. We’re trying to create so much pressure that the game speeds up.”
The Dragons weren’t hitting hard shots to begin the third, but hits fell and throws were wild as they took a 5-1 lead. The runs were all earned against Cubs starter Jordan Wicks.
The third began with singles by Mat Nelson and Garrett Wolforth. A throwing error back into the infield on Wolforth’s hit allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. J.V. Martinez blooped a single into right field and both runners had to hold up to see if it was caught. Jordan Nwogu’s throw from right sailed over the catcher’s head allowing both runners to score for a 2-1 lead.
Nick Quintana beat out on an infield single and the throw from shortstop Fabian Pertuz hit the first-base bag and shot high into the air and toward the Cubs’ bullpen, allowing Martinez to score. Alex McGarry and Rece Hinds followed with back-to-back RBI doubles.
“When you play hard like that every single day it wears teams down and gives the other team a chance to make more mistakes like that at the end of a series like this,” LaHair said.
The series was another winning one for the Dragons, who have yet to lose a series this season. They have won four straight and are 35-15. They hold a 7½-game lead over Great Lakes with 16 games left to play in the first half. If the Dragons win the half, it guarantees them a spot in the Midwest League playoffs.
South Bend entered the series as one of the hottest teams in the Midwest League. After sitting at 9-12 on May 1, the Cubs were on an 18-6 stretch entering the series in Dayton with a 27-18 record and two games out of first place in the West Division. After losing five of six to the Dragons, the Cubs leave town 28-23 and five games out of first place.
Martinez, Hinds and Wolforth each had two hits and Wolforth had two RBIs and a triple. James Proctor (4-2) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. Manuel Cachutt pitched two scoreless innings for his second save.
Saturday’s game: Quintana batted in two runs and Christian Roa pitched five strong innings for a 6-2 victory over the Cubs.
After Elly De La Cruz hit his 10th homer in the first inning, Quintana doubled in a run in the second and singled in another in the third for a 3-1 lead. Justice Thompson added an RBI single and another run scored on an error in the third for a 5-0 lead. Wolforth scored on a wild pitch in the eighth for a 6-1 lead. De La Cruz had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
Roa (1-1) allowed an unearned run, four hits, a walk and struck out six. Myles Gayman pitched three scoreless and hitless innings in relief. Donovan Benoit allowed a run in the ninth.
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