Durna and Morel smash home runs in 4-1 sweep win over Hot Rods

Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 9:39 AM

South Bend, IN: In their biggest series of the year yet, the South Bend Cubs used timely hitting, shutdown pitching, and solid defense to their advantage in a sweep of the Bowling Green Hot Rods. In Thursday’s 4-1 win, the Cubs backed Manager Buddy Bailey on his way to win number 2,100 as a Minor League Manager. Riley Thompson started the night with five innings of one run baseball and two strikeouts. Thompson, whose ERA sits at 2.39, has been solid all half long for South Bend and was named a Midwest League All-Star yesterday. He took a no-decision as Zach Mort was the piggyback reliever. Mort, whose consecutive scoreless innings streak has escalated to 8.2 straight, was perfect tonight in three innings with no runs, hits, or walks to his credit. Mort earned the win because of a powerful 7th inning rally by the Cubs, where the big guys in the lineup came up in a clutch spot. First, Tyler Durna smashed his second home run of the season deep over the right field wall to create a 10-way tie for first place in home runs on the South Bend Cubs. This was short lived, as two batters later, Chris Morel crushed a line drive dart into the left field home run porch for his third home run to lead the team. In the 9th, Sean Barry shut the door for his third save of the season. The long ball won the Cubs the finale, and with the win their record sits at 33-25 on the year. Buddy Bailey’s 2,100th win as a Minor League Manager was even sweeter with the win. He is now just eight wins away from passing Jack Dunn for eighth place on the all-time list. The win also places the Cubs at a tie for third place in the division along with Bowling Green. Going into a monstrous four game series at Great Lakes tomorrow in Midland, the Cubs will look to continue one of their best stretches of the year with hard-throwing lefty Brailyn Marquez on the mound.