Cubs Minor League News |
With Rookie League Monday come and gone, Tuesday marked the beginning of another full week of competition as all seven of the Cubs affiliates were set to hit the field. Of those seven teams, only six games as both DSL Cubs squads took battle against each other in one of those games.
When it comes to results, the Cubs posted a 3-2 mark, with the DSL team not counting against the standings due to playing each other. That is all you can ask for, although the offense wasn't that great most of the night. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 3 - IOWA CUBS 2: Despite a fairly great pitching performance from Riley Thompson and the Cubs, the offense struggled as they couldn't get much of anything going. Riley Thompson got the start as he pitched into the fifth, allowing just two runs before handing things over to Edwin Escobar and Porter Hodge. Hodge pitched in his first game since returning to AAA and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless frames. Both Cubs runs came on a pair of solo homers with Bryce Windham delivering the first one in the fifth to put the Cubs in front 1-0. That lead didn't last long, with Jose Tena connecting for a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to put the Clippers in front for good, 2-1, before they added another run in the sixth. Alexander Canario continued to be the hottest hitter on the planet with another solo blast in the seventh to pull Iowa within 3-2, but that was as close as they would get. Windham, Canario, and Miles Mastrobuoni led the way for Iowa with two hits, with Darius Hill and BJ Murray Jr adding the rest. TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - BILOXI SHUCKERS 4: Anytime you can beat the Brewers, whether in the majors or the minors, it sure does feel good. Trailing for most of the game, the Smokies offense rallied late. They scored four of their runs after the sixth, including the game-winning solo shot from Yohendrick Pinango in the ninth, to deliver the win. Connor Noland continued to pitch well, but this wasn't one of his better starts. He allowed four runs in six innings with just one strikeout. His ERA sits at 3.18 this season, as he has been one of the more consistent starters in the rotation. Opposing him was Shane Smith, who dominated the Smokies through five innings, allowing one run and striking out five before handing things over to the pen. Leading 1-0 after the Moises Ballesteros sacrifice fly in the first, it was the Shuckers offense that rolling in the second as they scored three times to take the lead. Lamar Sparks started things off with an RBI double before the Zavier Warren homer extended the lead to 3-1. That lead would hold until the top of the sixth when Ballesteros came through with an RBI single to pull the Smokies to within 3-2. Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Ezequiel Pagan came through with one of his biggest hits of the season as his two-run blast brought things back to even. The long ball continued to play a role for the Smokies in the ninth as Pinango unloaded for his first career AA homer to give the Smokies a 5-4 lead before Frank Scalzo Jr. closed things out. Despite some command issues, Scalzo Jr has yet to allow an earned run this season and is knocking on the door of a AAA call-up. PEORIA CHIEFS 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2: As you can see, the offense was the theme of the night, and for the most part, it wasn't positive. Despite a strong four-inning start that saw Sam Armstrong allow just two runs in four innings, the South Bend offense was held scoreless until the eighth, and the Cubs fell to the Chiefs 5-2. A big reason for their struggles hinged on Quinn Matthews, who dominated the Cubs through six innings. Matthews scattered just three hits, walking and striking out eight as the Cubs had no answers for him. The lone runs Armstrong would allow came in the second when Joshua Baez unloaded for a two-run shot to make things 2-0. They would hold that lead until the sixth when Dakota Harris took Tyler Santana deep to make things 3-0. Still trailing by that score in the eighth, the Cubs got on the board off of an error before the Pedro Ramirez sacrifice fly pulled the Cubs to within 3-2. That would be as close as things would get as the Chiefs tacked on two runs in the bottom of the eighth to make things 5-2 before winning by that score. Brett Bateman led the Cubs with two hits to raise his average to .312 for the season. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 0: The best pitching performance of the night came from Myrtle Beach as the Pelicans shut out the Fireflies 2-0. Kenten Egbert continues to dominate on the mound as he tossed five shutout innings with four strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.15. Egbert had to be on his best as Felix Arronde gave the Fireflies seven strong innings, allowing just two runs in the process. Both of the Pelicans' runs came on a pair of homers, which was the theme for two teams on the night. Andy Gariola opened the scoring with a solo shot in the fifth, before Alfonsin Rosario closed out the scoring in the seventh to secure the 2-0 win. Ismael Mena was the lone Pelican with two hits, but five others had one. ACL CUBS 7 - ACL ANGELS 3: The best performance of the night, at least from an offensive perspective, came in Arizona, where the Cubs topped the Angels 7-3. All of the runs for the Cubs came in two innings, with five of those coming in the third. Trailing 2-0 in the first after the Victor Rodriguez double, it was the Cubs tying things up in the bottom of the first off another Joan Delgado homer (4). Once the third inning rolled around, the Cubs stomped on the Angels throat as they pushed across five runs to open up a 7-2 lead. Anderson Suriel delivered the game-winning hit with his two-run double before coming around to score on the Jose Escobar homer to make things 6-2. Adan Sanchez closed out the scoring for the Cubs with an RBI single as they picked up another win to start the week. DSL CUBS BLUE 7 - DSL CUBS RED 6 (F/7): In what was initially a scheduled nine-inning game, Mother Nature only wanted to play seven as the four-run seventh from DSL Blue was the difference. It took five games for DSL Red to drop their first game of the season, but if you are going to do that, why not do it against your fellow organizational mates? Emannoel Madeira got the start for DSL Blue and tossed three scoreless frames with five strikeouts. They needed him to be at the top of his game with Jostin Florentino going four innings for Red, allowing three runs with only two coming as earned runs. All those runs came in the bottom of the second Isaac Moscote delivering a two-run single to make things 2-0 before a throwing error led to the third run. That was it for the Blue offense until late, when DSL Red started to put a strangle hold on this one. That all started with an Andrws Cruz single in the fifth to get Red on the board, while a bases-loaded walk to Fernando Cruz made things 3-2. Closing out the four-run fifth was Cesar Lugo, whose two-run single put DSL Red in front 4-3. They would extend that lead to 6-3 in the sixth off the Leroy Escalante homer, but it was in the bottom of the seventh when DSL Blue got back to the attack and stormed back in front. A bases-loaded walk to Darik Alcantara started things off for Blue, but the Carlos Altuve single brought things back to even 6-6. DSL Blue added the fourth and final run on a wild pitch, which was the difference in the end. INDEPENDENT LEAGUES WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS 12 - FLORENCE Y'ALLS 2: Joe Johnson led the way with five RBIs to push the Thunderbolts to the win. CHICAGO DOGS 5 - LINCOLN SALTDOGS 4: This makes four straight wins for the Dogs, who are back to .500 for the first time in a few weeks.
