Cubs Minor League News: Pelicans win, Levi Jordan homers, Bryce Ball with third homer, mor

Jake Roth - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Sun Aug 15 14:00:07 GMT-05:00 2021

It was fun while it lasted, at least in terms of winning lots of games. Earlier in the week, the Cubs farm system was winning plenty of their games and was doing it impressively. Towards the end of the week, those wins have turned into losses as the system continues to work through changing rosters daily.

Even with the system posting a 1-4 record with both DSL teams facing each other, most of the games were close and very competitive. That is all you can ask for at this level as the minor league teams continue to deliver better quality than the major league roster at this point.

OMAHA STORM CHASERS 6 – IOWA CUBS 2

After losing the first three games of their series, Omaha is starting to play the way they expected with a 6-2 win on Saturday. Joe Biagini continued to give the Cubs quality starts in terms of length, but it wasn't his best effort. Biagini gave the Cubs six innings, but when you allow six earned runs in the process, it doesn't make things easy on the offense.

It took two innings for Omaha to take the lead, with Kyle Isabel going deep for his ninth homer in the second for the 1-0 lead. Omaha didn't look back as they continued to build on that lead. In the fourth, singles by Ryan McBroom and Isabel pushed the lead to 3-0 before McBroom connected for an RBI double in the fifth to push the lead to 5-0.

Down 6-0 in the seventh, the Cubs finally got on the board as a wild pitch ended the shutout bid. The Cubs continued to battle until the end, with Levi Jordan picking up his first homer of the season in the ninth, but that would be all they could do, falling 6-2.

Hitting his FIRST Triple-A career home run, Levi Jordan is your @EMCInsurance Player of the Game. pic.twitter.com/EVvEEHRh2H
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) August 15, 2021

Iowa had seven hits in the game, with Jordan responsible for two of those hits. Ian Miller, Erick Castillo, Alfonso Rivas, Trayce Thompson, and Matt Burch collected the rest.

Final from Omaha. pic.twitter.com/bDe2b32mZH
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) August 15, 2021

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 4 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2

Talk about some tough luck for the Smokies. After allowing three runs in the fourth inning to fall behind to Rocket City, mother nature got in the way and ended the game 4-2 after just five innings. Caleb Kilian made another start, allowing all four runs in five innings to go with seven strikeouts. He kept his team in the game, but it still wasn't enough.

A first-inning error by the Trash Pandas opened the scoring, with the Smokies grabbing the quick 1-0 lead. That lead didn't last long, with Michael Cruz taking Killian deep in the third to tie things up 1-1. Much like in the first when Nelson Maldonado was in the middle of the game's first run, he contributed once again with another RBI double, putting the Smokies up 2-1.

Once again, it was that Cruz man cashing coming through in the fourth inning as he took Killian deep for the second time in as many at-bats. This time, it was a three-run shot to put Rocket City up 4-2, which proved to be the game's final run before the rain came. Not only were runs hard to come by, but hits were two as Tennessee collected just two hits. Maldonado was responsible for one, with Cam Balego adding the other. Christopher Morel and Chase Strumpf were held hitless, with Brennen Davis having the night off.

Final after 5 innings: Trash Pandas 4, Smokies 2. #SmokiesBaseball #GoSmokies pic.twitter.com/Wq9Ul2ACtY
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) August 15, 2021

FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 6 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 3

Despite getting doubled up on the scoreboard, the final line is a bit deceiving as Fort Wayne used a five-run sixth inning to take the lead and pick up another win. Ryan Jensen continues to pitch well on the mound, getting the start and going four innings. Not only did he not allow a run to go with just one hit, but his command was much better, walking one and striking out five.

South Bend struck first in the second inning with Bryce Ball unloading for his third homer of the season and 1-0 lead. Ironically, that score held up until the sixth inning as the pitching was tough all night. In the sixth is when Fort Wayne came to life in a big way as they not only took the lead but buried South Bend in the process.

Not only did Tirso Ornelas, Luis Almanzar, and Adam Kerner pick up RBI singles in that innings, but a South Bend error aided two more runs as the Tin Caps led 5-1. Hoping to keep things close in the seventh, Liam Spence continued his strong start to the season with an RBI fielder's choice before the Edmond Americaan single had the Cubs within 5-3.

That would be as close as the Cubs would get with Yorman Rodriguez adding a solo homer in the seventh to put the Tin Caps up 6-3 as they won by that score. The Cubs recorded five hits in the win, with Ball, Americaan, Harrison Wenson, Yonathan Perlaza, and Alexander Canario grabbing one.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 – CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 4

The lone team to pick up a win on Saturday was the Pelicans as they took care of Charleston 6-4. DavidJohn Herz had an interesting four-inning start as he walked a season-high five batters to go with six strikeouts. He also only allowed two hits which set the tone as the Pelicans did just enough to win.

A big reason for their victory was the start of the game, as the Pelicans offense came out swinging in the first. Matt Mervis opened the scoring with an RBI double before Pablo Aliendo doubled the early advantage with a sacrifice fly. Jonathan Sierra put an end to the big first inning with an RBI single as Myrtle Beach struck for a 3-0 lead.

Not to be outdone, Charleston battled back in the second, with Osleivis Basabe picking up a sacrifice fly of his own to put them on the board before Jonathan Embry added a single to pull within 3-2. Those were the only runs Herz allowed as he continued to battle despite command issues. Still leading by one in the sixth, the Pelicans saw their lead evaporate with Patrick Merino tying things up with a homer and Alika Williams giving them a 4-3 lead with an RBI single.

That 4-3 lead for Charleston lasted only a few batters as the Pelicans offense got right back to work in the bottom of the sixth, with Jacob Wetzel connecting for a game-winning two-run shot to put them in front 5-4. Aliendo added a second sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 6-4 as they picked up a much-needed win.

The Pelicans recorded eight hits in the win, with Ed Howard and Aliendo the lone starters without a hit. Aliendo added a pair of RBIs, with Yohendrick Pinango picking up a pinch-hit off the bench. Howard struck out three times.