Cubs Minor League News: Jordan Wicks impressive, SB wins seventh straight, more |
There was plenty of minor league action to go around on Wednesday, with five of the Cubs seven teams in action. Although the organization posted a 2-3 mark, take away the Iowa Cubs blowout, and the rest of the games were highly competitive.
A big reason for that was a strong pitching performance across the board, which has been lacking the last few weeks. That is undoubtedly a good thing to see, especially when you look at how much the Cubs have struggled to develop home-grown pitching talent.
The lone game that was not close was in AAA, where the Cubs fell behind 6-1 after two innings and only got worse. Robert Gellman was the victim of that massive six-run frame as he was charged with six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. The bullpen wasn't much better as Sean Newcomb was the only pitcher not to allow a run. Iowa managed to grab the early 1-0 lead in the first, but Columbus erupted for six runs in the second to pull away. Four RBIs singles did most of the damage, but a sacrifice fly and a groundout mixed in. Columbus added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to extend the lead to 7-1 before a Nolan James homer and Trenton Brooks single in the sixth made things 10-1. Add in five-more runs in the eighth, and another run in the ninth, and Columbus was relentless on offense. Outside of that first inning, the only other runs came in the eighth, with Nelson Maldonado picking up an RBI single while John Hicks added an RBI groundout. Final from Principal Park. pic.twitter.com/4VTjomhahi
One night after tossing their second no-hitter of the season, the Smokies had another strong pitching performance with Javier Assad doing the part. Assad allowed one run on four hits to go with six strikeouts in his five innings. However, it was Bailey Horn who served up the game-winning run as the Smokies dropped a tough 2-1 contest. Assad was impressive across his five innings, but he was touched up in the first for his lone run with Jose Gomez delivering the RBI knock and 1-0 lead. Not to be out done, it was Tennessee who responded in the bottom of the first using a Chase Strumpf single to tie things up 1-1. A single by Chase Strumpf ties the game early! 1-1 in the bottom of the 1st. @CStrumpf pic.twitter.com/7Df0uogtI1 Unfortunately, that would be the lone run of the night for the Smokies as a wild pitch from Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh allowed the winning run to score in the Trash Pandas 2-1 win. Matt Mervis and Cole Roederer led the way with two hits while Strumpf had the RBI. Smokies fall 2-1 to the Trash Pandas. Join us tomorrow for Thirsty Thursday! pic.twitter.com/sVuq26brAL
The Cubs didn't need a ton of offense, but having a three-run eighth inning certainly helped in the 5-1 win. Jordan Wicks is starting to come into his own as a starter, giving South Bend five innings with five punchouts. He yielded things to Yovanny Cruz, Eduarniel Nunez and Zac Leigh who closed out the final four innings. Not known for early offense, it was BJ Murray Jr giving South Bend the lead with an RBI single to make things 1-0. That score held untl the fourth inning when Wicks allowed his lone run on the Ynmanol Martinez single which tied things up 1-1. South Bend wasted little time retaking the lead with Pete Crow-Armstrong coming through with the go-ahead and game-winning sacrifice fly in the fifth. South Bend would add three more runs in the eighth inning with Owen Caissie and Fabian Pertuz picking up doubles and Murray Jr adding another RBI single. Pablo Aliendo paced the offense with three hits with Luis Verdugo, Murray Jr, and Jake Washer picking up two. CUBS WIN!
Led by some early offense and strong pitching, the Pelicans put an end to their losing streak by topping the River Dogs 3-1. He may have gone only five innings, but Luis Devers was lights out. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out nine to bring his ERA to 2.58. Chase Watkins and Johzan Oquendo allowed just two hits and struck out seven across the final four frames. Not only did the Pelicans take the lead for good in the first off the Kevin Made homer, but the Jacob Wetzel sacrifice bunt in the second proved to be the winning run. Looking to keep things close, Nathan Perry took Devers deep in the third, but that would be it for the Charleston offense. Ezequiel Pagan capped off the scoring with an RBI double in the third as the Pelicans took down the River Dogs 3-1. Pitching dominates on Wednesday night.COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 16 - IOWA CUBS 3
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 2 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1
SOUTH BEND CUBS 5 - BELOIT SKY CARP 1
Say it with us now... ?? Your 1ST PLACE South Bend Cubs! pic.twitter.com/WK32ZkxAwLMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - CHARLESTON RIVER DOGS 1
Myrtle Beach takes game two.#MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/UygAkwgnJq
DSL PIRATES 3 - DSL CUBS BLUE 1
Rookie League schedules are a bit strange these days with only one team in action. That team was the DSL Blue Cubs who fell to the Pirates 3-1. Alfredo Romero got the start and across four innings allowed one run on one hit while striking out three. Luis Reyes took over from there and surrendered the game-winning runs late.
A Carlos Altuve single in the second gave the Cubs their first and only run of the game as that lead was short-lived. Eduardo Oviedo tied things up with his solo shot in the second before putting the game away with a pair wild pitches in the eighth for the 3-1 win. The Cubs had five hits in the game with Altuve leading the way with two.
