South Bend Cubs LHP Faustino Carrera (left) and catcher Marcus Mastrobuoni (Photo by Rikk Carlson)

The first round of the Midwest League playoffs began Wednesday, with the four winners taking 1-0 advantages in their best-of-three series.

South Bend Cubs 2, Bowling Green Hot Rods 1

Nelson Maldonado and Jake Slaughter drove in runs for South Bend in the bottom of the 1st inning, and that was enough offense for the Cubs to beat the Hot Rods 2-1. Cubs starting pitcher Faustino Carrera got the win after scattering four hits and two walks in five scoreless innings.

Bowling Green’s only run scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 8th inning.

Great Lakes Loons 6, Lake County Captains 4

Great Lakes used 14 hits to score six runs off Lake County pitchers in the Loons’ 6-4 win over the Captains. Leonel Valera went 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base for the Loons, while teammate Romer Cuadrado had three hits. Justin Yurchak and James Outman hit solo homers for Great Lakes.

Captains leadoff man Quentin Holmes had two hits, including a double, and two runs batted in.

Quad Cities River Bandits 4, Cedar Rapids Kernels 1

Three River Bandits batters each had two hits, including Wilyer Abreu, who doubled twice and drove in two runs in Quad Cities’ 4-1 win over Cedar Rapids. Tyler Webb hit a solo homer for the Kernels.

River Bandits SP Valente Bellozo allowed one run on four hits and two walks in six innings. Kernels SP Luis Rijo allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and no walks in six innings. Both pitchers struck out six.

Clinton LumberKings 7, Kane County Cougars 3

Three-run homers by Bubba Hollins and Kameron Misner did most of the damage for Clinton’s offense as the LumberKings beat the Cougars 7-3. Kane County also got a three-run homer, from Zack Shannon.

Cougars SP Levi Kelly gave up only one hit in three innings, but also walked five batters and allowed a wild pitch.

LumberKings 3B Bubba Hollins hit one of Clinton’s two three-run homers Wednesday. (Photo by Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler)