It was a different Fort Wayne TinCaps team that played South Bend on Thursday at Parkview Field. But the result was the same as it has been almost all season.

The TinCaps shuffled their roster with seven players either coming or going, but it was a pair of regulars that powered Fort Wayne to an 8-4 victory in front of 6,109 fans.

“We're averaging eight runs a game now in the second half,” Fort Wayne manager Doug Dascenzo laughed afterward.

After winning the first half of the Eastern Division championship of the Midwest League with a 45-25 record, the TinCaps opened the second half in much the same manner by beating South Bend, a team that the Caps are now 12-1 against this season, with power. However, the difference was which players supplied that power.

On Thursday, Fort Wayne promoted Sawyer Carroll, James Darnell, and Matt Clark to Advanced-A Lake Elsinore. That trio combined for 23 home runs this year. Thursday it was Blake Tekotte and Drew Cumberland that hit shots to put the Hawks away early.

“Darnell leaves and Clark leaves, so I guess Tekotte and Cumberland take over the power spots,” Dascenzo said. “(Blake's) been swinging the bat pretty good for the past three and a half weeks, and when he makes contact sometimes it goes a pretty long ways.”

Fort Wayne jumped on South Bend in its opening at bat, as Hawks pitcher Randy Rodriguez (1-5, 4.40 ERA) had trouble with his control.

Tekotte (2-3, four RBIs, three runs) drew a leadoff walk followed by a single by Cumberland (3-4, two runs, two RBIs), which moved Tekotte to third. Fort Wayne got its first run by Tekotte, who came home courtesy of Daniel Robertson's sacrifice fly to right field.

Cumberland had stolen prior to Robertson's connection and ultimately scored to make it a 2-0 ballgame on a double by Justin Baum, who had just joined the team from Advanced-A Lake Elsinore on Thursday. Baum, who played the 2008 season in Fort Wayne, had a hit and an RBI in his 2009 debut with the TinCaps.

Fort Wayne added to its advantage in the second inning, as another Thursday addition, outfielder Yefri Carvajal, who had also spent this season at Lake Elsinore, reached on a single before moving to second on an infield error, which also allowed Kevin Hansen (1-3, two runs) to reach base.

It didn't take Tekotte (eight home runs) long to see what he liked, as he smoked a 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall for a 5-0 lead.

South Bend (27-42, 0-1 second half) answered with a pair of runs in the third and scored one more in the fourth to trim its deficit to 5-3. However, Fort Wayne responded with three more in the fourth to take an 8-3 lead.

With two outs, Hansen reached base with a single to left field, which was followed by a single to right by Tekotte. Cumberland then came to bat and drilled a pitch deep into right field for his first home run of the year.

“I was just going to jump on the first pitch if it was there, and it looked good to me,” Cumberland said.

Fort Wayne received solid pitching from starter Simon Castro (5-4, 3.80 ERA), who allowed four runs in five innings while striking out six to earn the win.

“(Simon) was throwing good,” Dascenzo said. “(South Bend) then got a little more aggressive and put the ball in play. But (Simon) threw the ball OK.”

Following Castro's departure, the TinCaps (46-25, 1-0 second half) received four combined scoreless innings from relievers Mike Watt, Nick Schumacher and Brad Brach.

Also continuing his strong play of late was Fort Wayne's Cole Figueroa.

Since joining the team earlier this month from Eugene, the second baseman is hitting a team-leading .371 and had two more hits Thursday.

The two teams will meet again at 7:05 p.m. today at Parkview Field.

Right-hander Stiven Osuna (2-6) will start for Fort Wayne, while Wade Miley (3-5) will throw for South Bend.