Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza raking, Stevens homer, Pels strike out 19, more |
Wins have been tough for the Cubs Minor League system of late, which continued to be the case Saturday. With five games, including a doubleheader, the Cubs organization hoped to win three of those games to head into Sunday with some momentum.
Instead, you had an organization continue to struggle as the Pelicans picked up the lone win to give the organization a 1-3 record on the night. With an additional postponement, things were worse than they could have been, as this week has been a nightmare across the board.
If Iowa misses the postseason, they will look back at this series as a missed opportunity. Toledo is a team that Iowa has to beat, and here they are heading into Sunday, trying to avoid losing five of six. Their biggest issue right now is needing more starters, as just two of their opening-day starters remain in the rotation. Any time you are forced to go with bullpen games that often, life is difficult, and it becomes even harder when Jack O'Laughlin deals five strong innings of just one run baseball. The Cubs fell behind early on the Nick Maton single in the first as Toledo grabbed an early 2-0 lead. David Bote did his best to pull them back into the game with an RBI single in the top of the fourth, but the Mud Hens offense came out swinging in the bottom half of that inning. After a sacrifice fly made things 3-1, Eddys Leonard picked up an RBI single to plate two more as the Mud Hens led 5-1. This was when the Cubs offense started rolling, as they scored five times across two frames to take the lead. Two runs came from a Darius Hill single in the sixth, while Chase Strumpf belted a solo shot in the seventh to pull the Cubs within 5-4. Casual 426-foot bomb from Chase Strumpf☄️ pic.twitter.com/h8mcn0sMcI An RBI double from Jared Young later in the seventh gave the Cubs their only lead as Iowa stormed back to take a 6-5 lead. Looking to finish off the Mud Hens late, Toledo had other plans as the third homer of the week from Justyn Henry-Malloy tied things up and sent the game into extras. In that extra frame, it was Leonard coming through with an RBI knock as his single in the 10th walked off the Cubs 7-6. Final from Fifth Third Field. pic.twitter.com/lvXegAz0JB
When you're hot, you're hot, and right now, the Shuckers are hot. With a series win in hand, Biloxi continued to make quick work of the Smokies as they are now on the verge of a rare six-game sweep. Should that happen, the Smokies will have lost plenty of games on their division lead and will be forced to win more games than they expected the next two weeks. Kohl Franklin made the start for the Smokies and didn't last long as he allowed five runs in two innings. Kohl Franklin striking out Jackson Chourio. pic.twitter.com/DT46DKbwHS He is now 4-10 on the season with a 5.96 ERA, as things haven't gone well for the right-hander. His effort didn't help, but Christian Mejias handcuffed the Smokies through five innings, allowing just two runs. It was the Logan Sparks show in the early going, as he homered not once but twice in the first two innings. After delivering a solo shot to put Biloxi on top 1-0 in the first, Sparks came through with a three-run blast in the second to extend the lead. That came after a Zavier Warren RBI double as the Shuckers were on top 5-0 early. Credit the Smokies pen for keeping their offense in check most of the night after that inning, but when you are in a massive hole like that, it is never easy to get out of. RBI singles from Pablo Aliendo and Bradlee Beesley in the fourth and fifth innings put the Smokies on the board as they pulled within 5-2. Aliendo would later add a homer in the eighth to pull within 6-3, as that came after a Warren homer one inning before. Trailing 7-3 in the ninth, the Smokies refused to go away as they scored one run on a wild pitch to pull within 7-4. Later, it was Aliendo capping off his big night as his RBI single made things 7-5 before the Smokies fell by that score. Aliendo had a great night, picking up three hits and three RBIs to lead the way. Beesley, Andy Weber, and Cole Roederer added two hits as the bottom of the lineup did the most damage. "Nothing means nothing" - Macho Man | @zips3mincarwash pic.twitter.com/qcRWM1zshE
South Bend is another team enduring a rough week, as they have dropped four straight after winning the series opener. This was another one-sided effort, as the Cubs can't do much of anything right. However, Luis Devers does deserve some credit in this one, as he did his best to keep the Cubs in the game. Devers gave South Bend five strong innings of two-run (one earned) baseball and struck out eight in the process. He went toe to toe with Austin Krob, who allowed two runs in 6 2/3, but also struck out 11 Cubs. After Lucas Dunn came through with another RBI single to give Fort Wayne the lead in the first, the South Bend offense had to battle back. Both of their runs came in one inning, and both came off the bat of Felix Stevens as his organizational high 25th homer gave South Bend the 2-1 lead. However, their lead didn't last long as Fort Wayne tied things up in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly before scoring four more times off the Cubs pen late. Three of those four runs came in the seventh, with Tyler Robertson and Samuel Zavala picking up a pair of RBI singles to do the damage. South Bend also committed an error in the eighth that led to the final run in what was otherwise an ugly day. Felix Stevens goes deep, but the TinCaps win it. pic.twitter.com/vfHgXDeIv8
The Pelicans ended their three-game skid in dominating fashion as they took care of Charleston on Saturday. Drew Gray made the start for Myrtle Beach, and after tossing three scoreless frames with seven strikeouts, he set the tone for what was to come. Drew Gray strikes out the side in the third. He’s K’d 7 through 3 scoreless innings. Only base runner was an HBP. pic.twitter.com/0JtiXFJ9M1 Marino Santy followed him with four innings, allowing just two hits and striking out eight as the Pelicans had 19 strikeouts as a team. There's dominant stuff and then there's @Pelicansbaseball tonight. The Pelicans offense didn't waste much time getting the scoring going in this one as Cristian Hernandez laced an RBI double in the second to put them in front 1-0. The very next inning saw Brian Kalmer pick up an RBI triple before scoring on a wild pitch, and just like that, it was a 3-0 Pelicans lead. This lead seemed impossible, as the Pelicans were never in danger of letting this lead get away. A Brett Bateman single in the fifth pushed the lead to 4-0, while the Reivaj Garcia single made things 5-0 in the eighth. The Pelicans would add an additional run in the eighth on a passed ball to take a 6-0 advantage. The lone run of the night for the Riverdogs came in the bottom of the eighth as an RBI groundout ended the shutout. Pedro Ramirez capped off the scoring with an RBI single in the ninth as the Pelicans took care of Charleston 7-1. Birds tie the series!
TOLEDO MUD HENS 7 - IOWA CUBS 6 (F/10)
BILOXI SHUCKERS 7 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5
FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 1
The @Cubs' Single-A affiliate struck out 19 hitters -- including seven from Drew Gray and eight from Marino Santy -- in victory: pic.twitter.com/9DGZHddF4i
We’ll close out the road portion of our regular season tomorrow evening.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/zmzrQ7Cx1TMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS at CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS (Postponed)
