Chris Rusin pitched six scoreless innings and earned his eighth win of the year on Wednesday as the Iowa Cubs defeated the Tucson Padres 4-0 at Kino Stadium. Rusin also contributed offensively with two hits and one run scored.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the top of second when Brian Esposito grounded out to first base, scoring Blake Lalli from third. Iowa's Tony Campana, Diory Hernandez, and manager Dave Bialas were all ejected from the game in the third inning after Campana was called out at first base on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

The Cubs began the top of the fifth with four straight hits, leading to three runs. The first run scored on Nate Samson's broken-bat RBI single to left field. Alfredo Amezaga followed with a single to bring home Rusin and Samson later scored on a double play to give Iowa a 4-0 advantage.

Jesus Merchan's single to left field in the sixth inning extended his current hitting streak to six games.

Padres starting pitcher Matt Palmer was forced to leave the game in the third inning after suffering an injury while pursuing a bunted ball. He threw 2.1 innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run, and lost his ninth contest of the season. Tucson has lost eight consecutive games.

Tucson weather

Clouds:Clear skies

Temp:99°F

Humidity:18%

Wind:NNE at 6 mph

Yes!

I want to help TucsonSentinel.com offer a real news alternative!

We're committed to making quality news accessible; we'll never set up a paywall or charge for our site. But we rely on your support to bring you indepedent news without the spin. Use our convenient PayPal/credit card donation form below or contact us at donate@tucsonsentinel.com today.