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Cory Luebke and the Fort Wayne Wizards’ fortunes turned in one bad inning and then turned into a home loss to Kane County on Friday.
The Wizards had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 7-2 loss to the Cougars at Memorial Stadium.
Fort Wayne (16-18 in the second half) had a 2-0 lead and was cruising behind Luebke, but it all fell apart in the Cougars’ four-run fifth inning.
Through the first four innings, Luebke had allowed no hits and faced the minimum 12 batters with only a lead-off walk (subsequent caught stealing). But Luebke (1-1) ran into trouble – a ton of it – in the fifth when the Cougars figured him out to the tune of six hits and four earned runs, and the Wizards suddenly trailed 4-2.
Luebke was relieved in the inning by Omar Gutierrez.
“I think what happened in that last (fifth) inning, (Luebke) was throwing a lot of fastballs and got away from throwing the softer stuff, and even though the last couple of runs were chopped balls, the fact of the matter is he stopped doing what he did so well in the first three or four innings,” Wizards manager Doug Dascenzo said.
The Cougars (12-21) tacked on a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
The Wizards hit into three double plays, struck out 10 times and left 11 runners on base.
“That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes,” Dascenzo said. “You just have to deal with that. We had some opportunities. That’s what it boils down to, and anytime you get an opportunity to score a run you have to cash in on it in order to stay in a ballgame or add on. We didn’t do that today.”
The Wizards, who had won the first two games of the three-game series, got a 2-0 lead in the first inning after getting three walks and a wild pitch.
The Peoria Chiefs come to Fort Wayne today for a three-game series. The Chiefs were involved in Thursday’s brawl with the Dayton Dragons that included a pitcher landing in jail.
“It is unfortunate,” Dascenzo said of the fight. “I think George Spelius, the league president, will do a fine job of sorting it all out.”
Peoria manager Ryne Sandberg won’t be in town until Monday when he presents an autographed ball, which is being auctioned off to help raise money for the Safety Village.
Notes: Outfielder Danny Payne was placed on the disabled list, retroactive to July 22. … Outfielder Ryan Hill was promoted from Eugene to Fort Wayne.
gjones@jg.net
