Ethan Long had two hits including a three-run home run, but the TinCaps surrendered 15 hits and six walks and lost 9-5 to the South Bend Cubs on Thursday night at Parkview Field in front of an announced crowd of 5,725.

Three games remain in the TinCaps' 2024 season. The Cubs have won two of the first three in the series. Fort Wayne and South Bend are tied for the worst record in the Midwest League at 52-77.

Fort Wayne (24-39 second half) took the lead in the first with a sacrifice fly from No. 1 Padres prospect Ethan Salas that scored Kai Murphy to make it 1-0.

The Cubs (25-38 second half) struck back in the second, putting the first three runners on with two walks and a single, bringing left fielder Edgar Alvarez to the plate against TinCaps lefty Jagger Haynes. Alvarez, an eighth-round pick in this summer's draft, took two balls, then got a hanging breaking ball and pulled a towering grand slam to right for his first High-A home run and a 4-1 South Bend lead.

Haynes, the No. 21 Padres prospect, managed only 3 2/3 innings in his shortest start since July 19. He gave up five runs on six hits while striking out four and walking five. It was the second time in four starts he walked a season-high five after not doing so in any of his first 19 outings.

Haynes' 114 strikeouts are eighth in the league.

The TinCaps answered in the bottom of the second as Tyler Robertson walked and Addison Kopack reached on an error in front of Long, who ripped his second home run with Fort Wayne and fifth of the season to left to tie the game at 4. Both of Long's home runs in High-A have come in his last five games.

Robertson drove in a run in the bottom of the third with a single to score Salas, who had reached on a fielder's choice. Robertson went 2 for 3 with a walk for his eighth multi-hit game in his last 12, raising his batting average to .286 for the season.

The Cubs tied the game with a Cam Smith RBI single in the fourth and then scored single runs off the Fort Wayne bullpen in the sixth, seven, eighth and ninth to pull away. 

Smith, the 14th overall pick in this summer's draft, who drove in both runs in a 2-1 South Bend win Wednesday, went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored. He is batting .412 with a 1.130 OPS in nine games at High-A.

Fort Wayne's Nerwilian Cedeño went 2 for 5 with a double and extended the longest active hitting streak in the MWL to 11 and his on-base streak to 12. He's batting better than .400 during his hitting streak.

Trailing 7-5 in the seventh, the TinCaps loaded the bases with one out, but Salas and Devin Ortiz struck out swinging to end the threat. Seven of Fort Wayne's final nine hitters struck out.

Right-hander Braden Nett, the No. 20 San Diego prospect, is scheduled to make his final start of the season Friday at Parkview Field in a game set to start at 7:05 p.m.

dsinn@jg.net