Cubs Minor League News: Canario crushes two homers, PCA stays hot, Alcantara raking, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Canario crushes two homers, PCA stays hot, Alcantara raking, more
by - Senior Writer - Fri May 24 11:30:10 GMT-05:00 2024

It hasn't been a great overall start to the week for the Cubs and their Minor League system, but there is still plenty of time to get things turned around. You started to see that more on Thursday as their mix of strong pitching and big-time offense powered them to their first winning record of the week, 3-2.

Looking at the box scores, the Cubs had chances to go 5-0, which would've been huge.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 10 - IOWA CUBS 8

You knew when the Cubs started adding all of these has been pitchers, there were some questions surrounding it. So far, most of those moves haven't off, especially when it comes to Dan Straily, who allowed four homers in three innings and was charged with six earned runs.

Home runs were the theme of the night as the two teams combined for 11 long balls, six coming from the Indians. Since getting sent back down to AAA a week ago, all Alexander Canario has done is hit the ball and hit it hard. That continued in this one as Canario connected for two homers and four RBIs, including his three-run shot in the first to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

It was a lead that didn't last long as the Indians connected for four home runs the next two innings, with Matt Gorski making things 3-2 in the second and Andres Alvarez tying things up. You then had Henry Davis and Malcolm Nunez each connect for a solo shot in the third to put the Indians in front 5-3 before taking on two more runs late.

Like Canario, Davis was a man on a mission as he added his second homer in as many at-bats in the fourth to extend the Indians lead to 8-3.

Trailing 9-4 in the sixth, Miles Mastrobuoni got in on the fun as he connected for a rare solo shot to make things 9-5. You then had Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ali Sanchez, and Canario all add solo shots across the last three innings to come close, but in the end, it wasn't enough, as they fell 10-8.

PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 1 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0

In a game that saw only seven combined hits, it only took one run for the Blue Wahoos to win, as they took care of Tennessee 1-0. Matt Thompson was the hard-luck loser in this one, scattering four hits across five innings while striking out five. He was also tagged for the lone run as he allowed a third-inning home run to Sean Roby.

Following Thompson came Alex Troop, who made his AA debut with scoreless innings, as did Jeff Belge and Jake Reindl. The Blue Wahoos elected to go with a bullpen game, and that all started with Angel Macuare and his three scoreless innings, which he lowered his ERA to 1.04. He struck out three as the Smokies struck out nine times in the loss. James Triantos, Yohendrick Pinango, and Kevin Alcantara had the three hits for Tennessee.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 3

Despite watching the Timber Rattlers rally late, the Cubs held on and found a way to take a second game from the first-place Wisconsin team. Nick Dean made his South Bend Debut, and you couldn't have asked for much more. Dean went five shutout innings, scattering one hit and striking out five.

A pair of early runs backed him as Will Rudy allowed just two runs in his five innings with six strikeouts. Those runs came in the fourth on a pair of RBI singles from Jefferson Rojas and Reivaj Garcia as the Cubs took a 2-0 lead and never looked back. South Bend would extend their lead in the sixth on the two-run Jonathan Long single as their lead grew to 4-0.

Ultimately, that hit will go down as the game-winner as the Rattlers started to rally late off the pen. That started with a Tayden Hall sacrifice fly in the seventh while the Jadher Areinamo double pulled Wisconsin within 4-3 in the eighth. They wouldn't get any closer as Carlo Reyes came in to slam the door and secured the win.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - CAROLINA MUDCATS 0

You love seeing great pitching throughout the organization, especially in Myrtle Beach, which is using the rest of the first half to improve its development. Led by Kenten Egbert and Jeral Vizcaino, the Pelicans pitchers combined to toss a five-hit shutout, striking out five. Egbert got the win, striking out three and allowing three hits in 6 1/3 innings, and his ERA sits at 3.14.

All of the Pelicans' offense came in three innings, with two runs scoring in each inning. The first was an Alfonsin Rosario homer in the second, which put the Birds in front 2-0 and will be credited as the game-winning hit.

You then had an RBI double from Reggie Preciado in the fifth, followed by a Jacob Wetzel single, which saw the Pelicans double their lead to 4-0.

One inning later, the Pelicans closed out their scoring, with Christopher Paciolla delivering an RBI single ahead of the Ismael Mena sacrifice fly, resulting in the 6-0 win. Myrtle Beach had 10 hits in the victory, with Wetzel leading the charge with three. Mena added two hits, with five others picking up one.

ACL CUBS 9 - ACL ATHLETICS 8

Backed by a pair of early four-run innings, the Cubs built a massive lead before having to hold things off later. Yenrri Rojas got off to a strong start with three shutout innings before allowing three runs in the fourth. He did strike out five before handing things off to Brandon Noriega, who allowed three runs in his inning despite striking out the side.

It didn't take the Cubs offense long to get started as they fell behind early on a first-inning RBI triple from Angel Arevalo. The Cubs responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, with Anderson Suriel delivering a two-run shot. You also had the Yahil Melendez double and a Jose Escobar triple as the Cubs came out fast.

Things only worsened for the Athletics in the fourth as Suriel connected for another RBI hit, pushing across two runs with a triple. Later in the inning, they saw an Eriandys Ramon homer and the Yidel Diaz double as the Cubs raced out to a massive 8-1 lead. Credit the Athletics for battling back as they scored five times in the next two innings to make this a ball game.

Luis Freitez started that with a two-run triple in the fourth before the three-run Luis Marinez homer pulled the A's within two in the fifth. Jairo Diaz delivered what will go down as the winning run in the bottom of the fifth with his RBI double as the Cubs withstood an Arevalo homer later to pick up the win. Jairo Diaz, Angel Cepada, and Suriel paced the offense with two hits, with Suriel leading the way with three RBIs.

INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

CHICAGO DOGS 4 - WINNIPEG GOLDEYES 3

Despite their offensive struggles throughout the week, the Dogs did manage to salvage the series finale against the Goldeyes with a 4-3 win. All of their production came late, which was good considering Steven Lacey's start. The right-hander went eight innings, allowing two runs and striking out four.

He had to be at his best as Joey Matulovich struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just one run on one hit. This was scoreless until the fifth, when Ryan Holgate took Lacey deep to make things 1-0. Max Murphy doubled that lead in the sixth with a single as the Dogs offense continued to struggle.

Then came the top half of the seventh when a Jacob Teter homer not only made things 2-1, but seemed to awaken the offense of the Dogs. Nick Dalesandro delivered the big blow as his three-run homer gave the Dogs a 4-2 lead in the eighth before holding on for the win.

WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS 7 - LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS 6 (F/11)

Another exciting week of baseball continues for Windy City, who claimed a walk-off victory against Lake Erie on Thursday. Considering how the Bolts defense allowed four unearned runs to score, you had to feel good about the victory, especially with Kevin Pindel's effort.

Pindel pitched into the eighth before going 7 2/3 and struck out five. He allowed three runs but only one earned run, as he deserved a better fate. Both of those unearned runs came in the first as an error led to an Alfredo Gonzalez homer to put Windy City in a 2-0 hole. They responded at the bottom of the third, with Christian Kuzemka picking up an infield single mixed with an error to plate two, while the Joe Johnson sacrifice fly made things 3-2.

After an Ethan Skender triple tied things up in the fifth, Gabriel Bersing appeared to win the game for the Bolts as his infield single in the eighth pushed across the go-ahead run. Leave it to Lake Erie to battle back in the ninth as they not only tied things up on one passed ball, but took the 5-4 lead on another.

Down to their final at-bats, the Thunderbolts had a flare for the dramatics in this one as Thomas Rodriguez delivered a game-tying bunt single. Then came the 10th, when the Thunderbolts had to battle back again, using a Johnson double to make things 6-6 before walking things off in the 11th with a homer.

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