Just because the big leaguers were taking a break on Wednesday doesn’t mean there wasn’t good baseball going on. One of those good games from last night’s action came in South Bend, Indiana where the South Bend Cubs hosted the visiting Quad Cities River Bandits. The Cubs (9-11) are currently sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Division while the River Bandits (15-5) sit at the top of the Western division after having the best start to the second half in the entire Midwest League.
Last night’s contest was the first of a three game series and both squads would send their ace to the mound. Manuel Rondon (9-3) toed the rubber for the Cubs as he prepared to face River Bandits hurler Carson LaRue (9-3). LaRue entered the game having given up more than three runs in only three of his 16 starts all season. He continued his dominant trend last night while the Cubs bats were struggling to make solid contact. LaRue tossed seven innings in which he allowed just one run on four hits while striking out three and walking none.
Rondon did not fair as well in his day on the mound. He got into a couple of jams early as he allowed back to back singles in the first and a lead off double in the second, but managed to work around it and not allow any damage to be done on the scoreboard. The top of the lineup was due up in the third and Rondon allowed four straight singles to start the inning, allowing one run, before walking in the second run of the frame. Rondon seemed to get it together after that, as he would not allow another hit, while giving up just one additional run. That was the end of Rondon’s night as he was lifted after three innings where he allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out one and walking two.
Jonathan Arauz and Ronnie Dawson Photo by Mathew Carper
The River Bandits found the scoreboard again in the top half of the fifth frame after a sacrifice fly got one run in and the other scored on a wild pitch. The Cubs finally got to LaRue in the seventh inning for their first of two runs on the night when Isaac Paredes doubled home Austin Upshaw. LaRue would be relieved by Lucas WIlliams who would finish out the final two innings while allowing just one run on two hits. The Cubs bats made an attempt to come to life in last few innings, but it proved to be too little too late as the River Bandits took the 5-2 road victory.
Top Performers
Quad Cities –
Carson LaRue: 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 SO, 0 BB
Chuckie Robinson: 2/5, 1 RBI
Daz Cameron: 2/4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Ronnie Dawson: 3/5, 1 2B,
Carmen Benedetti: 3/5, 1 R
South Bend –
Jared Cheek: 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 SO, 0 BB
Isaac Paredes: 1/3, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Vimael Machin: 1/4, 1 RBI
Game two of the series is set for tonight at 6:05.
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