DJ Wilson, right, homered in the Cubs loss to Bowling Green Saturday night. (Photo by Emma Reese)

SOUTH BEND – Jonah Heim fell a homerun short of the cycle and drove in three runs as the Bowling Green Hot Rods (20-15, 51-51) erased a four-run deficit in a come from behind 5-4 win over the South Bend Cubs (15-20, 54-50) in front of a crowd of 6,005 on Saturday night at Four Winds Field. Deivy Mendez (W, 4-5) tossed two scoreless innings in relief for the Hot Rods to earn the win.

South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, took the lead against Hot Rods starter Chris Pike in the bottom of the second inning. The knuckleballer had worked around two walks in the first inning but fell behind center fielder D.J. Wilson 3-1, and fired in a fastball that Wilson launched off the scoreboard in right-center field for a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs added to their lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning. Wilson got it going by drawing a walk with one out. Right fielder Chris Pieters lined a single to center that got under center fielder Emilio Gustave’s glove and rolled to the warning track, allowing both Wilson and Pieters to score on the error.

South Bend extended its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the 5^th inning. First baseman Alberto Mineo grounded a one out single through the right side. Left fielder Kevonte Mitchell walked with two outs to put runners at first and second and shortstop Isaac Paredes followed by fighting off a pitch into center field for an RBI single.

Cubs starter Bryan Hudson was done after five innings of shutout ball as he struck out four and allowed just three hits. Pedro Silverio (L, 2-4) entered from the Cubs bullpen to start the 6^th inning. With one out, left fielder Garrett Whitley walked. He was immediately brought home as catcher Jonah Heim laced a triple off the glove of Mineo down the right field line to put Bowling Green, the Class-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, on the scoreboard. First baseman Ryan Tenerowicz got the Hot Rods even closer with a single to right that cut the Cubs lead to 4-2.

The Hot Rods grabbed the lead for good from the Cubs in the top of the 7^th as they struck for 3 runs. After Silverio retired the first two batters, shortstop Mike Brosseau walked. Right fielder Jesus Sanchez then ripped a double into the right field corner that scored Brosseau for the Hot Rods’ third run of the night. Whitley walked for the second straight plate appearance and a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Heim then doubled to right-center to plate both runners and give the Hot Rods the 5-4 lead. Joe Serrapica (S, 3) entered the game for Bowling Green in the 8^th inning and tossed two shutout innings to earn the save.