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FORT WAYNE – Building a big early lead, the Fort Wayne TinCaps bested the South Bend Cubs 10-2 Thursday, April 14 in Midwest League baseball before 3,876 at Parkview Field.

Designated hitter Luis Tejada (4-of-5 with five runs batted in) led the offensive onslaught for Fort Wayne (5-3).

TinCaps second baseman Peter Van Gansen (3-of-4) also contributed to a 14-hit attack.

Fort Wayne catcher Austin Allen (2-of-3) continued his red-hot start to the 2016 season. He is now hitting .680 (17-of-25).

Center fielder Donnie Dewees (2-of-3 with two triples and two runs) and catcher Tyler Alamo (2-of-3) accounted for all but one of South Bend’s five hits.

Right-hander Brett Kennedy (five innings, two runs, five hits, five strikeouts, two walks) was the winning pitcher and moved to 1-0.

Left-hander Justin Steele (two innings, eight runs, seven hits, three strikeouts, two walks) took the loss and fell to 0-2.

Fort Wayne, a San Diego Padres affiliate, enjoyed four-run uprisings in the first two innings in winning its second straight.

With one out in the first, five consecutive TinCaps reached base against Steele.

Michael Gettys tripled to left field. Ty France singled to right to score Gettys.  Allen singled to center. Brad Zunica was hit by pitch to load the bases. Luis Tejada tripled to right, scoring France, Allen and Zunica.

In the TinCaps second, France singled to right, scoring Van Gansen (on base with a single to center) and Ruddy Giron (on base by walk).

Allen lofted a sacrifice to left to plate Gettys (on base by walk). Tejada singled to left, driving in France.

South Bend (4-3) scored one run off Kennedy in the first inning.

Lead-off man Dewees tripled to center field and scored when Bryant Flete grounded out to third base.

The Cubs stranded runners at first and third in the second inning. With one out, Matt Rose walked. Rose moved to third on Alamo’s single to right, but the rally died there.

South Bend tallied one run against Kennedy in the third inning.

Dewees tripled down the right field line and scored on a ground out to second base by Flete.

Steele was relieved to start the Fort Wayne third by right-hander Scott Effross.

Effross, who pitched at Indiana University, worked in and out of trouble in his first frame. He coaxed an inning-ending double play — third baseman Rose to second baseman Sutton Whiting and first baseman Jose Paniagua.

Both teams went down in order in the fourth — South Bend against Kennedy and Fort Wayne against Effross.

In the Cubs fifth against Kennedy, Alamo lashed a single to center and Flete reached on a fielder’s choice, but were left at second and third, respectively.

Fort Wayne pushed across one run in the fifth against Effross (three innings, one run, three hits, two strikeouts, no walks).

Zunica lashed a lead-off double to center and scored on a double to left by Tejada.

Relieving Kennedy to open the sixth, left-hander Keel retired all three South Bend hitters.

Right-hander Craig Brooks took the mound for the Cubs in the sixth. He allowed two runners but no runs with an inning-ending strikeout.

Keel yielded a one-out walk to Alamo then retired the next two South Bend batters in the seventh.

Fort Wayne produced one fun against Brooks (two innings, one run, three hits, two strikeouts, two walks) in the seventh.

Jhonatan Pena reached base on an infield single and later scored for a 10-2 TinCaps lead on Van Gansen’s one-out single to center.

Keel allowed two runners in the Cubs eighth, but neither advanced past first base.

Right-hander Scott Frazier pitched the eighth inning for South Bend. Fort Wayne loaded the bases, but Frazier allowed no runs.

TinCaps left-hander Taylor Cox got three straight groundouts to end the game and South Bend’s four-game win streak.

The South Bend at Fort Wayne series resumes at 7:05 p.m. Friday, April 15 at Parkview Field. Probable starting pitchers are left-hander Ryan Kellogg (1-0) for the Cubs and right-hander Jacob Nix (0-0) for the TinCaps.