Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action |
Now that the weirdness is out of the way for what last weekend looked like, it's time to get back on the normal Minor League schedule. At least for this week anyway, as Monday is again Rookie League Monday.
This is the one day during the week when we can appreciate all of the Rookie League action, as they will be the players moving up to full-season leagues in the near future. With the All-Star break set for next week, the DSL teams will be the only teams in action for four days, so they will have a bit more attention in the coming days. With all three of the Cubs Rookie League teams in action, there was plenty of action to keep track of as the ACL is getting down to the end of their season while the DSL is hitting the midway point. After struggling to win games most of the week last week, the Cubs started the week off on the right foot by posting a 2-1 record.
It's not too often you can say there was a shutout in the ACL, but that was the case on Monday as the Cubs blanked the Brewers 9-0. Zhiorman Imbraino got the start, and despite striking out six in 3 1/3, he also walked four, as he had to work much harder than he would've liked. He set the tone on the mound for what was a solid night, as the Brewers had just four hits in the ball game. Surprisingly, this was a tie game entering the third when Adan Sanchez brought home the winning run on a sacrifice fly. What is more shocking is that it was the only run until the seventh inning when the Cubs offense erupted for eight runs late on consecutive four-run frames. Joan Delgado started the massive seventh inning with an RBI triple to make things 3-0 with a wild pitch bringing home another run. Anderson Suriel closed out the massive seventh with his team-leading eighth homer as the Cubs opened up a 5-0. The very next innings was more of the same for the Cubs as their offense continued to do the dirty work. Following the Yahil Melendez single that made things 7-0, it was the Delgado and Suriel combo once again as Delgado added a sacrifice fly ahead of the Suriel double to close out the scoring in the Cubs 9-0 win. The heart of the Cubs lineup did most of the damage as Melendez, Suriel, and Delgado drove in seven runs, with Delgado leading the way with three. ACL also saw Jackson Tetreault continue his strong showing this season as he struck out a pair in another scoreless outing to bring his ERA to 1.04 for the season.
Backed by a pair of big innings in the game's middle stages, the DSL Blue squad broke things open and used that to their advantage to pick up a big win. Darian Rivero set the tone on the mound for the Cubs as he gave DSL Blue four shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. He gave way to Jorge Alvarez, who struck out five in his four innings, allowing just one run. Both were backed by a solid offensive performance, especially by Derik Alcantara, who was the offense early. After picking up an RBI single in the third to put the Cubs in front 1-0, he added a second RBI single in the fifth to extend their lead to 3-0 as he drove in three runs in the game. Henniel Alcala added a sacrifice fly as part of that three-run fifth as the Cubs opened up a 4-0 lead. DSL Blue was just getting started as the Grenyerbert Velasquez homer made things 5-0 in the sixth, with Ludwing Espinoza doubling home the final run to make this a 6-0 game. The Royals did manage to pick up a pair of runs late on a Tony Ruiz double in the sixth and the Manuel German single in the ninth, but with the bases loaded in the ninth, the Royals were unable to add on, falling by the 6-2 score. The Cubs had only five hits in the game, with Alcantara leading the way with two hits and three RBIs. Velasquez, Espinoza and Darlyn De Leon had the remaing hits for DSL Blue.
What was looking like a DSL sweep earlier in the day turned sour quickly as an off-and-on rain was mixed with a late-game rally that saw the Dodgers erase a 4-0 deficit and rally late as the Dodgers pushed home two runs in the ninth to win 6-4. Although Emilio Ramos didn't have his best stuff, he still gave the Cubs four solid innings, as he allowed one unearned on two hits to lower his season ERA to 1.59. Ramos didn't need to be at his best as the Cubs offense got off to a fast start and backed him with plenty of early offense. Leading 1-0 after a first-inning double play brought home a run, the Cubs extended their lead to 3-0 after pushing across a pair in the third. Brailin Pascual brought home the first run in that inning with a double, while an RBI forceout off the bat of Daniel Campos made this a 3-0 lead. The Dodgers picked up their first run on a fourth-inning Edwin Sanchez sacrifice fly, but once the sixth inning began, their offense got rolling as they scored at least one run in each of the final four innings. Sanchez played a role in that with his seventh-inning RBI single, but you also had Yojackson Laya add an RBI single in the sixth to help tie things up 3-3. With this suddenly a brand new ball game, Pascual took it upon himself to put the Cubs back in front as he delivered another RBI double in the seventh to make this a 4-3 lead. It was a short-lived lead as the Dodgers made it three straight innings with a run courtesy of the Jose Gonzalez homer, and just like that, this was a 4-4 game entering the ninth. In that ninth inning, the Dodgers capped off their comeback attempt as the Laya single put the Dodgers in front for good, 5-4, but the offense was still threatening. Gonzalez added to their late lead with an additional RBI single as the Cubs followed that up by going down in order and letting one get away 6-4. Pascual had an excellent day for the Cubs offense, as he was responsible for two of the four hits and two RBIs. Campos added the final RBI for DSL Blue, with Enyel Rosario and Vicent Nunez grabbing the remaining hits. ACL CUBS 9 - ACL BREWERS 0
DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL ROYALS 2
DSL DODGERS 6 - DSL CUBS RED 4
