By Mike Monaco

EASTLAKE, Ohio — Rain interrupted Sunday’s matchup between South Bend and Lake County, but the Cubs stormed back after resuming the game Monday and defeated the Captains, 5-4, on Monday evening at Classic Park.

South Bend (22-28) claimed Friday’s series opener, 6-5. Rain rolled through the area Saturday, forcing a doubleheader Sunday. But after three innings of game one Sunday, rain prevented any more baseball.

The seven-inning game resumed Monday with Lake County (25-25) leading 3-0 at the start of the fourth inning. South Bend didn’t have a player reach base until the fifth inning, but the Cubs exploded for four runs in the sixth inning to earn the victory.

South Bend second baseman Andrew Ely, first baseman Yasiel Balaguert, left fielder Kevin Encarnacion, catcher Gioskar Amaya and third baseman David Bote each recorded an RBI.

South Bend has won back-to-back games for the first time since May 11-12.

On Sunday, South Bend starting pitcher Jeremy Null stranded a runner at third in each of the first two innings, tallying an inning-ending strikeout in the first and inducing a pair of groundouts to second base in the second stanza. Captains starter Thomas Pannone, meanwhile, spun three perfect innings to begin his afternoon.

Lake County struck in the third inning with a trio of two-outruns. Designated hitter Ordomar Valdez reached after hitting a line drive to right field, where Cubs right fielder Jeffrey Baez slipped on the slick surface and could not make the catch from his knees. Two batters later, shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang hit a fly ball to right, and Baez could not haul it in, allowing Valdez to score. Then Captains cleanup hitter Bobby Bradley smashed a two-run home run to make it 3-0.

The game resumed Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. ET in the top of the fourth inning. South Bend finally recorded its first baserunner in the top of the fifth. Balaguert cracked a single to right field off of Lake County righty Nick Pasquale, who started the action Monday.

Balaguert, who was named the Midwest League Player of the Week on Monday, extended his hitting streak to nine games.

After an infield single by Amaya in the fifth, Bote ripped an RBI double to put South Bend on the board and trim the deficit to 3-1.

The Captains snatched the run right back in the home half of the fifth inning. Second baseman Claudio Bautista reached on an infield single and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Chang then reeled him in with a sacrifice fly to center field, nudging the lead to 4-1.

Cubs center fielder Charcer Burks and shortstop Gleyber Torres worked back-to-back one-out walks in the sixth, and Ely plated Burks with an RBI single through the right side, making it 4-2. Balaguert then scored Torres with a sacrifice fly to right field. With two outs, Encarnacion knocked a game-tying double into the right-field corner, and Ely scored on a close play at the plate. Encarnacion moved to third on the relay throw home, and he scored the go-ahead run on an RBI infield single by Amaya.

After Lake County placed runners at second and third with one out in the sixth, Cubs manager Jimmy Gonzalez turned to righty James Farris. A pop out and a groundout later, Farris escaped the trouble and maintained the one-run lead. He then earned his sixth save with a strong seventh.