South Bend’s Isaac Paredes charges home for a run Saturday in a Cubs’ sweep of the Fort Wayne TinCaps. (Photo by Emma Reese)

SOUTH BEND – The South Bend Cubs scored 14 runs over the course of two seven inning ballgames as they worked their way past the Fort Wayne Tincaps in the first two games of a four game series at Four Winds Field.

GAME 1: The Cubs continued their early scoring trend with a first inning RBI from Alberto Mineo. In their last 36 games, the Cubs have scored 91 runs over the first three innings.

Vimael Machin later contributed a RBI groundout of his own to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead that would last until the fifth inning.

A throwing error and a wild pitch allowed the Tincaps put up four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead with two and a half frames remaining in the shortened first game of the double header. Fort Wayne’s G.K. Young went 3-3 with a run scored.

After the mishaps in the fifth inning, Yeiler Peguero came up with a big RBI-triple to score Zack Short from first who reached with a leadoff hit-by-pitch. Mineo then struck again with a deep sacrifice fly to score Peguero from third and tie the game.

With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the final inning of regular play due to the shortened game, Brandon Cummins laid down a bunt in a 0-2 count to put the winning run on first base. Cummins then stole second to move into scoring position and was later moved to third on Short’s sacrifice bunt.

Then, after intentionally walking the bases loaded, Fort Wayne pitcher David Bednar threw a wild pitch to allow Cummins to score the winning run and give the Cubs the first win of the four game series.

Pedro Silverio was credit with the win as he shutout the Fort Wayne offense throughout 2 and 2/3 innings pitched. Cubs starter Bryan Hudson cruised through the first four innings only allowing two hits throughout, but struggled in the fifth allowing four earned runs on five hits in the frame.

GAME 2: South Bend showed their resilience by overcoming an early 2-0 deficit while also exploding for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to sweep Fort Wayne in both games of the double header.

Unlike the first game, the Cubs had to deal with an early deficit as the Tincaps scored two runs in the second inning thanks to Tyler Selesky’s sacrifice fly and Webster Rivas’ RBI-single.

The Cubs first run of the second game came in the third inning as Zack Short hit a RBI-single to score Luis Ayala from second.

In the fourth inning, Jhonny Pereda hustled out a groundball to keep the inning alive with two outs as Mineo charged home to tie the game. The Cubs offense continued the scoring in the fifth with five more runs, four of which came with two outs.

South Bends lineup batted around the order in the fifth inning to break the game wide open over Fort Wayne. After Short’s one-out walk, Peguero and Mineo followed with singles to score Short and give the Cubs a 3-2 lead.

Then, with two outs, the Cubs did not let up before Kevonte Mitchell reached on an error, which was then followed by two more singles from Pereda and Ayala that each led to more runs scoring for the Cubs as they took a 7-2 lead with two innings left to play.

South Bend added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning after Short reached base via another leadoff walk and Yeiler Peguero and Alberto Mineo followed with singles.

The newest member of the Cubs roster, Tyler Peyton who came into the game with a 0.00 ERA through 5 and 2/3 innings pitched, got the start on the mound for South Bend. In 4.0 innings pitched, Peyton allowed two runs on three hits before being replaced by Dakota Mekkes.

Mekkes, arguably South Bend’s best arm out of the bullpen, threw two scoreless innings without giving up a hit while also striking out four Tincaps hitters. His season ERA is now 0.70 over 23 and 2/3 innings pitched.

SUMMARY: The Cubs, though riddled with errors throughout much of the season, are having a good year overall. Unfortunately for the Cubs, the division leading West Michigan Whitecaps and second place Dayton Dragons are playing some of their best baseball in recent years.

Nevertheless, South Bend is currently 12 games over .500 but remain in third place in the Midwest league’s Eastern Division for the time being. They are now three games behind the West Michigan Whitecaps for the division lead.

MINEO’S IMPACT FELT: Alberto Mineo had a big impact on each of the two games played while also continuing to step up as a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. Though he carries himself with a very calm persona, the catcher/first baseman has proved why he often hits third in the South Bend Cubs lineup.

In the first game Mineo went 1-2 with two RBIs and a walk to help the Cubs pull out the victory. He followed up that performance in game two by going 2-3 with two runs scored, a RBI, and a walk. These clutch performances are how he often anchors the South Bend offense.

SHORT LEADS THE LEAGUE: After moving to the leadoff position, Short has thrived on demonstrating good plate discipline and taking his walks.

Likewise, with his leadoff base on balls in the first game, Short earned his 38th walk of the season while also scoring two runs in the seven-inning contest.

In game two, Short went 2-3 with a double, a RBI, and a walk to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning and also scoring the Cubs’ eighth run in the bottom of the sixth.

The former Sacred Heart standout continues to lead the Midwest League in walks with 39 and runs scored with 40 in 46 games played this season.