Late rally falls short against South Bend

Heard the one about better late than never?

The Captains were better late Aug. 2 at Classic Park in the opener of a seven-day, eight-game homestand.

They tallied for runs in the bottom of the eighth and another in the ninth against the South Bend (Ind.) Cubs.

Most games, that kind of production in the late going gets a team in the win column.

When you tumble into a 7-1 hole after six innings, as the Captains did against the Cubs, those five late runs only served to turn a lopsided loss into a close loss.

The Cubs did most of their damage against Lake County starter and eventual loser Justin Garza (2-6, 6.16 ERA).

The 23-year-old righthander from California gave up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He threw 93 pitches, 64 for strikes.

South Bend didn’t blow away Garza, who last notched a win on June 15 in a 7-3 home victory over Fort Wayne. Instead, they chipped away with single runs in the first, second, third and fourth innings.

Garza issued a leadoff walk to Alberto Mineo in the sixth inning, then posted two quick outs before Captains manager Larry Day summoned righthanded reliever Cesar Ventura. The Cubs pounced on Ventura for three straight singles and three runs, the first charged to Garza.

Ventura settled in nicely after his rough beginning, limiting the Cubs to two hits the rest of the way.

That opened the door slightly for the Captains, who had been limited to one run on five hits in five innings by South Bend starter and eventual winner Tyler Peyton (3-3, 3.74 ERA).

The Captains did some damage against South Bend reliever Matt Swarmer in the eighth. The four-run outburst was capped by Jose Medina’s three-run home run.

They tacked on a run in the ninth against South Bend reliever Wyatt Short, getting a leadoff single by Jorma Rodriguez and an RBI double by Luke Wakamatsu that allowed Rodriguez to score easily from first base and narrow the gap to 7-6.

Wakamatsu advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Alexis Pantoja, but Short buckled down and struck out Mitch Longo and Li-Jen Chu to end the threat and the game.

Pantoja was 4-for-4 with a double.

South Bend is 16-23. The Captains slipped to 18-20.