Cubs Minor League News: Kevin Made crushes grand slam in win, Perlaza smacks 13th homer, m |
Tuesday was a night to forget record-wise for the Cubs minor league system as they struggled to win games, with Myrtle Beach picking up the lone victory. Not only did the organization post a 1-6 record on the night, but it was the way they lost a lot of those games that were concerning, as most of the scores were decided by multiple runs.
Sparked by a four-run ninth inning and a strong pitching performance, the Toledo Mud Hens topped the Iowa Cubs 8-2. Luis Lugo took the ball for yet another AAA start and didn't pitch all that bad. Yes, he allowed four earned runs in five innings of work, but he did keep his team in the game as the offense was hard to come by. Scoreless outings by Dakota Mekkes and Blake Whitney out of the pen gave Iowa hope up until a four-run ninth inning ended any thoughts of a comeback. With Ryan Kreider giving Toledo a 1-0 lead with an RBI single, the Cubs managed to tie things up in the bottom of the second using a Tyler Ladendorf sacrifice fly to get that done. That tie was short-lived, with Spencer Torkelson putting the Mud Hens on top for good 2-1 with a third-inning homer. Two innings later, Riley Greene connected for his fifth homer of the season, and just like that, it was 4-1 Toledo. That score would hold until the ninth inning when a former Cubs farmhand delivered the massive blow with a Grand Slam to put Toledo up 8-1. Ladendorf capped off the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cubs fell 8-2. Seven players collected a hit in the loss, including Ladendorf, Nick Martini, Johneshwy Fargas, and Greg Deichmann. Final from Principal Park. pic.twitter.com/GrcvGLdPcT
Making his second start for the Smokies, Joe Nahas had a night to forget as he put together his worst outing of the season. In 4 2/3 innings of work, Nahas allowed nine runs on 10 hits, with six of those runs earned. That set the tone for what was a long night as the Smokies fell 14-1. It took three innings for the Lookouts to grab the lead, with Leonardo Rivas picking up an RBI single, but most of the damage was done over the next two innings. A three-run homer from Drew Mount in the fourth busted the game wide open before another Rivas single capped off a five-run frame with the Lookouts in front 6-0. Harrison Wenson cashed in with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to give the Smokies their lone run, but once again, the Lookouts offense went to town. A Wilson Garcia homer in the fifth pushed the lead to 8-1 before the TJ Hopkins sacrifice fly extended the lead to 9-1. Leading 10-1 in the eighth, the Lookouts offense continued to keep the pressure on, with Chuckie Robinson belting a two-run shot to push the lead to 12-1. A Francisco Urbaez RBI double and Mount sacrifice fly capped off the scoring with the Lookouts cruising for an easy win. Not only did Wenson pick up the lone RBI, but he led the offense with two of the team's six hits and his hitting .556 since his promotion. Christopher Morel, Bradlee Beesley, Tim Susnara, and Delvin Zinn all had hits in the loss. FINAL: Lookouts 14, Smokies 1. #SmokiesBaseball #GoSmokies pic.twitter.com/vol8bmChGE
What started as a promising game went south quickly as the Snappers pushed across eight runs in the seventh and eighth inning to pick up the win. Bailey Horn made his second start with South Bend, which was much better than the first. Horn went four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) to go with four strikeouts. He gave way to Jose Albertos and Hunter Bigge, who pitched well before the back end of the pen imploded late. Horn didn't make it easy on himself as all three of the runs he allowed came in the bottom of the first. With two men on base, Thomas Jones connected for his eighth homer of the season, and just like that, the Snappers built a 3-0 lead. After that, Horn settled in while the Cubs offense began to go to work. That comeback effort began in the third when Luis Vazquez pulled South Bend within 3-2 using an RBI double to do so. Tyler Durna singled later in the inning to bring home Vazquez as the Cubs rallied to tie things up 3-3. Three innings later, Yonathan Perlaza gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead as he went deep for his 13th homer of the season and now leads the Cubs in that category. ?High-A South Bend? Trailing by two in the seventh, Jan Mercado singled home a run for the Snappers, but an error on the same play allowed for an additional run to score as things were back to even. It was in the eighth when Beloit put the game away, using a six-run frame to put the game away. A bases-loaded walk to Victor Mesa proved to be the difference, but the Troy Johnson Grand Slam was the decisive blow putting the Snappers up 10-5. Dustin Skelton would add an RBI single later in the inning to cap off the 11-5 win. Durna was one of three players with multi-hit efforts joining Pablo Aliendo and Yohendrick Pinango. The later of the two is hitting .308 since his promotion and is proving he belongs. Bryce Ball, Vazquez, Bryce Windham, and Perlaza rounded out the hits. A great outing in relief from Jose Albertos, but the Cubs fall on Beloit's six-run eighth inning and drop game one at ABC Supply Stadium pic.twitter.com/ad6RsGDkGS
The Pelicans used consecutive big innings in the third and fourth to do all their damage as they held off Charleston to secure the organizations lone win. Richard Gallardo delivered a great start, allowing just two runs in five innings as he picked up his third win of the season. Against one of the best teams in Low-A, the Pelicans knew they needed to be at their best as they trailed 1-0 after two innings of play. Christian Franklin rips a double into the corner. His first extra base hit with MB. pic.twitter.com/H7T9oYN0eL In the third, the Pelicans took the lead for good, using an Owen Caissie single to take a 2-1 lead. Caissie would later come around to score as the newest Pelican, Felix Stevens, picked up an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1. One inning later saw the Pelicans bust the game wide open, with Christian Franklin taking a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 4-1. It was then time for Kevin Made to make a statement as he picked a great time to deliver his first homer. Not only was homer the game-winner, but it was a homer of grand proportions as the grand slam capped off a five-run frame with the Pelicans on top 8-1. Kevin Made’s first Home Run of the year is a GRAND SLAM! ?? At that point, Charleston began to make a comeback, which started with an RBI groundout to pull within 8-2 in the fifth. Fast forward to the sixth, and the Riverdogs began to make things very interesting using a three-run homer from Patrick Merino to pull within 8-5 before Johan Lopez homered to pull within 8-6. Thankfully for the Pelicans, that was as close as things would get as Jarod Wright tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up his third save. Jordan Nwogu is suddenly the hottest hitter in this lineup, leading the way again with three hits. Made added a pair of hits to go with his Grand Slam, with Franklin, Caissie, Stevens, and Fabian Pertuz picking up hits. They’ve won a lot of games. We didn’t care. #MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/0vv3XYeHnF
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Cubs couldn't top the best last night. At last, Jason Adam saw a pitcher's mound in 2021, allowing one run on two hits in one inning. He was followed by the flame-throwing lefty Luke Little who struck out four in two innings of work. 2021 ninth-round pick Chase Watkins continues to impress as he not only gave the Cubs two more scoreless frames but struck out all six men he faced. In 4 2/3 innings this season, Watkins has walked one batter and has struck out 13 out of a possible 14 hitters. After trailing 1-0 in the second following an RBI double from Walking Cabrera in the first, the Cubs tied things up with Malcom Quintero connecting for an RBI single in the second. That back-and-forth affair continued the next few innings, with Benny Montgomery giving the Rockies the lead with an RBI single in the third before BJ Murray tied things up with a single of his own in the fourth. With the game still tied in the sixth, the Rockies offense started to get things rolling as they showed why they are the cream of the ACL class. Cole Zabowski gave the Rockies the lead for good with a sacrifice fly before Montgomery extended the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single in the seventh. Not about to go quietly, James Triantos picked up an RBI triple in the eighth to pull the Cubs within 4-3 before coming home to score on a wild pitch strike three to tie the game. That would be the last of the excitement for the Cubs, with Zabowski giving the Rockies a 5-4 lead with an RBI double ahead of the Juan Guerrero double that capped off the scoring in the 7-4 win. Quintero joined Miguel Pabon with two hits as they led the offense. Ezequiel Pagan, Triantos, Murray Jr, and Kevin Alcantara all had hits.
The DSL Cubs Blue had a rough go of things on Tuesday, falling to the Red Sox 6-2. That wasn't the case early on, with Armando Sierra and Frank Hernandez exchanging RBI singles in the first inning for a 1-1 game. Once the second inning began, the Red Sox picked up five unanswered runs, which started with a Juan Chacon single in the second to take the lead for good. A bases-loaded walk to Jhostynxon Garcia extended the lead to 3-1 before a passed ball in the seventh pushed the lead to 4-1. Sierra stretched the lead to 5-1 with an RBI fielder's choice before a costly error in the eight made things 6-1. Although most of the game was a rough go, the Cubs did manage to mount a ninth-inning rally only to see Frank Hernandez ground out into a double play to kill the rally. A run did score on that play, but the Cubs still lost 6-2. The top of the Cubs lineup did all the damage as all five hits came from the top five spots. Esmarly Tatis, Frank Hernandez, Leonel Espinoza, Joanfran Rojas, and Cristian Hernandez all had one hit with Cristian Hernandez raising his average to .277.
The most exciting of the Rookie League games was this one as the Cardinals rallied late before walking off the Cubs in 11 innings. After the Cubs struck first off, the Jose Herrera single to take a 1-0 lead in the second, the Cardinals offense responded by pushing across five runs in the bottom of that inning. The Cubs did themselves no favors with a throwing error leading to the first run, but the Marcelo Perez single gave the Cardinals the lead before a Samil De La Rosa double stretched the lead to 5-1. The Cardinals also had a fielder's choice in that inning as they had the momentum early. In the fourth, Samuel Duarte got one of those runs back with an RBI single before it was their time to post a big inning in the seventh. Not only did a wild pitch help the Cubs out, but so did an error, as that set the tone for a huge inning. A Duarte sacrifice fly mixed with a Wilmer Bolivar RBI single capped off a five-run frame as the Cubs now led 7-5. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they couldn't hold that lead as a pair of wild pitches in the eighth and ninth innings led to two more runs as the Cardinals forced extra innings. In the 11th, they completed the comeback bid with Carlos Linarez connecting for the walk-off RBI single to give the Cardinals an 8-7 win. Of the 13 hits, six players recorded multiple hits as Cristian More, Anderson Suriel, Duarte, Herrera, Andrews Cruz, and Luis Maza all had two hits. Bolivar added the final hit.TOLEDO MUD HENS 8 – IOWA CUBS 2
CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 14 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1
BELOIT SNAPPERS 11 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 5
2B Yonathan Perlaza homers (13) on a fly ball to right field ??
Bryce Ball scores.pic.twitter.com/uD9NX6qQ6F
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8 – CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 6
(??: @Pelicanbaseball) pic.twitter.com/ePlAlNB7dN
ACL ROCKIES 7 – ACL CUBS 4
DSL RED SOX 6 – DSL CUBS BLUE 2
DSL CARDINALS 8 – DSL CUBS RED 7 (11 innings)
