Cubs Minor League News |
Saturday was a little busier on the diamond for the Cubs and their Minor League system, as five games had to be played among four teams. That is because Myrtle Beach made up one of their rainouts from a few weeks ago, adding to the slate of games.
From a performance standpoint, the Cubs continued their recent run of strong showings by< posting a 3-2 record for the day. That has continued a trend started by the Chicago Cubs about three weeks ago, as winning is contagious.
A big reason that Sanders only lasted one inning was watching Alfonso Rivas continue to torch his former club by belting a first-inning Grand Slam to put the Redbirds in front 4-0. It was a lead that didn't last long as the Cubs responded with four runs in the second and six across the next two innings to take the lead. Trayce Thompson started the scoring binge with a solo shot to begin the second while Darius Hill and James Triantos tacked on RBI doubles. You also had a Hayden Cantrelle RBI groundout mixed in as the Cubs tied things up 4-4. Iowa managed to grab the lead in the third off another Hill double, as he was responsible for three of the team's first six runs. Iowa's offensive onslaught continued into the fourth, when Moises Ballesteros unloaded for a long two-run shot to push their lead to 8-4. The Cubs answered with eight unanswered runs. Unfortunately, that was it for their offense, and with the Cubs pitching struggling, it was the Redbirds' turn to put together a nice run. With Mike Antico pulling the Redbirds to within 8-5 with his homer in the fifth, the Chance Sisco single made things 8-7 in the sixth. Sisco was the man of the game in this one as he connected for what was the game-winning three-run shot in the eighth to lift the Redbirds past the Cubs 10-8. Thompson and Ballesteros led the Cubs with three hits, and Hill picked up three RBIs.
It took 10 games for someone to finally knock off the Smokies as the Trash Pandas picked up a well-earned 2-1 win. Sam Armstrong suffered the loss and is still looking for his first AA win despite a 3.46 ERA. Armstrong was as good as the Smokies have seen him, as he allowed just two runs in six innings with three strikeouts. Usually, an outing like that would be good enough to earn a win, but with the Trash Pandas going with a bullpen day and striking out 10 Smokies over nine innings, runs were tough to come by. As has been the case lately, it was the Smokies opening the scoring first as another Luis Verdugo RBI single gave them a 1-0 lead in the first. It was a lead they would hold until the third when both of the Rocket City Runs came in. The first of those runs came on a Ben Gobbel RBI groundout to tie things up, while a costly error allowed for the go-ahead and winning run to score in the Rocket City 2-1 win. The Smokies were held to just four hits in the loss as Felix Stevens, Jonathon Long, and BJ Murray Jr added the remaining three hits.
Despite allowing three runs in the ninth inning, it was the Cubs who managed to pick up the win as some late-game offense pushed their lead to 7-1 before holding on for the 7-4 win. It has been a long time since Jaxon Wiggins pitched like the top-30 prospect he is, but after allowing just one run in five innings with eight punchouts, he got back to showing his potential. Wiggins served up a solo shot to Jordon Thompson in the second inning to fall behind 1-0, but that was all the offense the Loons could put together against him. It didn't take South Bend long to respond, as they answered with three at the bottom of the second, with Pedro Ramirez tying things up 1-1 before Cam Smith put them in front for good 3-1. Those were the only runs off Loons starter Christian Romero, but with the way Wiggins and Marino Santy pitched three runs was looking to be enough. That was until the seventh and eighth innings when the Cubs responded with four additional runs. Two came in the seventh, with Edgar Alvarez adding another single ahead of an error. South Bend would then tack on two more runs in the eighth to push their lead to 7-1 with Ezequiel Pagan a bases-loaded walk ahead of the Cristian Hernandez sacrifice fly. Great Lakes did manage to make this a game late as they scored three times off Tyler Santana in the ninth off a Nick Biddison homer, but that was as close as they would get in a 7-4 loss.
In a make-up game from their previous series, the Pelicans relied heavily on their pitching to pick up a 2-1 win. Alfredo Romero got the start and tossed four strong innings of one-run ball before handing things off to Lisandro Almonte, who finished things off. All of the runs in this game came in the fourth inning, with both of the Pelicans runs coming on the Carter Trice homer. Down East picked up their lone run in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch, but it wasn't enough to top the Birds.
It has been a long time since the Pelicans could say they earned a doubleheader sweep, but with the pitching they had yesterday, they managed to do that. JP Wheat didn't last long, going just 2 1/3 innings of one-run ball he kept his team in the game. Wheat turned things over to Connor Schultz, who went the rest of the way to lower his ERA to 1.90. Trailing 1-0 after a wild pitch in the top of the first, the Pelicans took the lead in the bottom of the first. They tied things up on a wild pitch before taking the lead on a double play. They held that lead until the third when Reggie Preciado tacked on an RBI single to push the lead to 3-1, which was the final run of the game for the Birds. That hit would also go down as the winning hit as the Wood Ducks managed just one more run off a Yeremi Cabrera single in the fifth before falling 3-2. Preciado was one of two Pelicans to pick up a hit, with Jose Escobar adding the other. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 10 - IOWA CUBS 8
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 2 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1
SOUTH BEND CUBS 7 - GREAT LAKES LOONS 4
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2 - DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS 2
