Cubs Minor League News: Young smacks walk-off homer, Caissie raking, Made homers, more

Cubs Minor League News: Young smacks walk-off homer, Caissie raking, Made homers, more
by - Senior Writer - Sun Jun 25 10:30:18 GMT-04:00 2023

It is rare to have eight minor league games for an organization on a given night, but that was the case for the Cubs on Saturday. With the Chicago Cubs playing in London and freeing up the evening to watch the minor league organizations, fans had more than enough action to keep track of as there continued to be several impressive showings on the field.

With two teams still battling for a first-half playoff spot, you knew there would be some intense action, and that there was. Overall, the Cubs posted a 5-3 record on the night, but things could have been slightly better, which would have made things interesting in the playoff hunt on Sunday.

IOWA CUBS 7 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 5

If you want to talk about a team playing with magic, look no further than the Iowa Cubs. After securing a walk-off win on Friday for their second walk-off of the series, Iowa was at it again on Saturday as a five-run ninth capped off their third walk-off win of the week and second straight. Nick Niedert had an excellent bounce-back start, giving the Cubs six impressive innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts. He gave way to a bevy of relievers, although Daniel Palencia struggled in his outing.

Michael McGreevy opposed Niedert and was very good himself allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts. With the score knotted 0-0 in the fourth, Masyn Wynn gave the Redbirds an early lead, taking Niedert deep for the lone run allowed against him. The Cubs responded quickly, with Yonathan Perlaza picking up an RBI double in the fifth to give Iowa the 2-1 lead.

Trailing by one in the seventh, Luken Baker went deep for his 19th and brought things back to even 2-2. That score held until the ninth, when all the drama started to happen. A wild pitch from Palencia gave the Redbirds a 3-2 lead, with Chase Pinder adding an RBI single to extend the Redbird's lead to 5-2.

In danger of falling out of first place with only three outs to go, the Cubs continued to show their ninth-inning magic, with Jake Slaughter coming through with a solo shot to make things 5-3. That homer was followed by a Bryce Windham double and a Darius Hill single as the Cubs tied things up 5-5. Iowa was not done, as it was Jared Young's time to play hero, cranking a two-run shot to walk off the Redbirds again and give the Cubs a 7-5 win.

Young was one of four players joining David Bote, Windham, and Slaughter with multiple hits. Iowa remains .5 games ahead of St. Paul for first place, with the first half's final game on Sunday.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 6 - PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 4

In desperate need of a win to keep their first-half playoff hopes alive, the Smokies had two chances to knock off a Blue Wahoos team that has owned them this week. It wasn't easy, but Tennessee took game one on day 6-4.

DJ Herz was on the mound and battled through four innings, allowing three earned runs. He walked three and struck out three as his ERA sits at 3.57. Herz was followed by Zac Leigh, who tossed a pair of scoreless innings while Danis Correa earned the save. Offensively, the Smokies didn't waste any time getting things going, as the long ball aided them with an early lead.

First, it was Haydn McGeary going deep in the first to put the Smokies up 2-0, while Nelson Maldonado and Jordan Nwogu followed in the second to extend that lead to 4-0. After weathering the early storm, Pensacola started to battle back in the third as a wild pitch and a Victor Mesa Jr single made things 4-2. Griffin Conine pulled the Blue Wahoos within 4-3 in the fourth on his RBI single as the Smokies were in danger of letting this one get away.

Fortunately, they had other plans as their offense picked up two massive runs in the fifth. Owen Caissie was the beneficiary of that, as his RBI double made things 6-3 before holding on for the 6-4 win. Caissie, McGeary, and Nwogu led the way with two hits, while Caissie and McGeary drove in two.

PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 6 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5

After picking up a massive win in game one of their doubleheader, the Smokies had a chance to sweep the Blue Wahoos. Instead, you had a late-game rally that was the difference in the game as the Blue Wahoos rallied for the 6-5 win and potentially handed the first-half title to Chattanooga.

After a rough start from Carlos Guzman, Samuel Reyes came in to deliver a strong showing in relief as he struck out three in 2 2/3 innings of work. Caissie helped make things easier for the Smokies and their entire staff as his first-inning homer gave them a 1-0 lead, but it didn't last long.

Jose Devers tied things up 1-1 in the second with a solo shot, while the Conine single made things 2-1 in the third.

Moving to fourth and you had Cole Roederer come through with an RBI single to tie things back up before the Luis Vazquez homer in the fifth gave the Smokies a 4-2 lead and them thinking sweep.

That was until the sixth inning when the Smokies' pitching fell apart, and the Blue Wahoos' offense came to life.

Bases loaded walks to Troy Johnstone and Conine tied things up at 4-4 while the two-run Norel Gonzalez single capped off the four-run frame and had the Smokies trailing 6-4. That single proved to be the winning run as the Caissie single in the seventh was the game's final run for the Smokies, who dropped a tough 6-5 decision.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 1

It has been a painful last few weeks for the Cubs, but when you get a performance like Saturday, you can see the hope for a better second half. Connor Noland was on the mound and went on to deliver one of his better starts in a while. Noland gave the Cubs six innings and allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts. His ERA sits at 2.84.

Following Noland was a combined three-inning effort from the Cubs pen, with Jared Wright and Joe Nahas taking care of things. The game's lone run off of Noland came in the first inning as Marcos Castanon delivered an RBI single for the 1-0 lead. Apart from that, the Cub's pitching was phenomenal, giving their offense a chance to make things happen.

It took a bit for the offense to get going, but once the fourth inning rolled around, you saw signs of life. Bryce Ball and Kevin Made came through in that fourth as both delivered RBI doubles to make things 2-1.

The Cubs kept the pressure on the fifth with a Yohendrick Pinango sacrifice fly to make things 3-1, while Made capped off the scoring in the sixth with his second homer of the season.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS 1

Although the Pelicans have clinched the first-half title, you never want to end the first half on a down note. After struggling to find their footing across the first four games of this series, where each team has won a pair of games, it was the Pelican's pitching that got them back on track Saturday, picking up the 3-1 win.

Jackson Ferris was on the mound for the Pelicans and only lasted 1 2/3 before going to the pen. Luis Rujano followed him up with 3 1/3 scoreless frames with five strikeouts, while Yovanny Cabrerra and Angel Gonzalez took care of the final four innings. Despite the loss, the Cannonballers received a fantastic pitching performance from Mason Adams, who struck out five in six great innings.

The lone run of the game for Kannapolis came in the second inning, giving them an early lead as Juan Gonzalez picked up a sacrifice fly. That score held until the fourth when Rafael Morel tied things up with a single, which was all the offense until the later innings. Myrtle Beach took the lead for good in the seventh on the Miguel Pabon Sacrifice bunt, with Morel closing out the scoring with a ninth-inning solo shot.

ACL CUBS 8 - ACL ANGELS 6

The lone Rookie League team to win was the ACL Cubs which officially gave them a winning record on the night. Adrian Sampson made his long-awaited return to the diamond and gave the Cubs a pair of scoreless frames. The plans for him going forward are up in the air, as he will play a role in the second half. You also had Stephen Gonsalves continuing his rehab journey, but the Cubs offense was the story in this one.

Cristian More had a massive day from the leadoff spot collecting four hits while driving in three. Most of those runs came home on his double and triple, as he was just a homer shy of the cycle. Christopher Paciolla added two RBIs to give him a team-high 12 on the season, with Alexander Canario adding another hit and RBI. Canario could be a real X-Factor for the Cubs in the second half, as his bat will fit nicely with Iowa.

DSL RED SOX 12 - DSL CUBS BLUE 1

A rough week of games concluded with a massive dud as the Cubs fell to the Red Sox 12-1. Any time you are held to three hits with 10 strikeouts through seven innings, runs will be hard to come by, as the Cubs were held scoreless until the ninth.

In the ninth, they finally broke through as Brailin Pascual delivered an RBI single to make things 12-1. Pascual was one of five players to record a hit in what was otherwise a rough outing.

DSL RED SOX 2 - DSL CUBS RED 1 (F/10)

Like DSL Blue, DSL Red had a rough week this week and got rougher with a heartbreaking loss on Saturday. Despite command issues throughout the game, the Cubs received fantastic pitching across the board, including from their starter Emannoel Madeira who struck out three in three solid innings.

Madeira allowed a third-inning run off the Yoeilin Cespedes single that put the Red Sox up 1-0, but that was their only run for quite some time. The Cubs managed to pull even in the fifth off an Angel Cepada sacrifice fly, but that was it for them offensively, as runs were at a premium all day. After nine innings weren't enough to decide a winner, the Red Sox got the last laugh as Kleyver Salazar delivered the walk-off single in the 10th for the 2-1 win.

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