Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza blasts walk-off homer, Vasquez raking, Stevens impressive

Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza blasts walk-off homer, Vasquez raking, Stevens impressive
by - Senior Writer - Sat Jun 24 11:11:10 GMT-05:00 2023

With the ACL Cubs having a rare off day on Friday, things were a bit lighter on the diamond, with six games taking place. The results were not pretty as the Cubs were one inning away from going 1-5, only to have Yonathan Perlaza come through with his second walk-off of the week to give the Cubs a 2-4 mark for the day.

IOWA CUBS 7 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 5

In preparation for the Cubs and Cardinals in London, fans were treated to the Minor League version of that rivalry with the Cubs and Redbirds locking up again. Looking to secure, at worst, a series split, it was Perlaza coming through with his second walk-off of the week to give the Cubs a 7-5 win.

Despite battling through some command issues, Chris Clarke was very good on the mound as he went five innings and allowed two runs. He gave way to Jordan Halloway, who also struggled with his command; the Cubs walked 12 hitters in the game. The most impressive arm of the night was Cam Sanders, who struck out the side in the ninth and did so relatively easily.

Memphis wasted little time getting their offense going in the first, with Richie Palacios taking Clarke deep for the early 1-0 lead. David Bote tied things up with a fielder's choice in the bottom of the first, but once again, it was Memphis cashing in during the third, with Matt Koperniak picking up an RBI triple for the 2-1 lead.

Like in the first, the Cubs didn't need to wait long to respond, with Jared Young going deep for one of his three hits to bring things back to even 2-2. That is when the pitching took over the game, as neither team allowed another run until the seventh. In the seventh, the Redbirds busted things open using a pair of RBI doubles from Palacios and Juan Yepez to push two runs across. There was also a sacrifice fly from Chase Pinder in that inning as the Redbirds led 5-2.

Looking to rally for the second time this week, Bote pulled the Cubs within 5-3 in the eighth, but it was in the ninth when the real fun started. With a pair of runners on base, Bryce Windham picked up an RBI single to pull the Cubs within 5-4. That set the stage for Perlaza, who didn't disappoint as he crushed a homer to right field for the walk-off shot, giving the Cubs their second walk-off win of the series 7-5.

PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 7 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 4

The Smokies picked the worst time to go into a slump, as they are now 1.5 games out of first with three games too. Facing off against their kryptonite, who won the championship game against them last season, the Smokies are still looking for their first win and fell 7-4.

Kohl Franklin was faring very well since making the leap to AA, but his last few starts have been ugly. This was another one, as he was charged with six runs (5ER) in four innings to put the Smokies in a big hole. Apart from Franklin, the pitching went well, including Chris Kachmar, who gave the Smokies three innings of one-run three strikeout ball.

Much of the damage against Franklin came in the first inning when the Blue Wahoos pushed across three runs. Troy Johnston opened the scoring with an RBI single, while the Will Banfield homer gave Pensacola a 3-0 lead. The Smokies did a great job battling back in the bottom of the first, with Luis Vazquez delivering an RBI double to put the Smokies on the board while the BJ Murray Jr single made things 3-2.

That was as close as the Smokies would get, as the Pensacola offense was just getting started.

Following their three-run first, the Blue Wahoos opened up a 5-2 lead with Griffin Conine and Johnston delivering a pair of solo shots. Throw in an error in the fourth, and the Smokies found themselves in a massive 6-2 hole.

Hoping to battle back in the fifth, Haydn McGeary did his part with a bases-loaded walk, but nothing else came from it, with the Smokies still trailing 5-3.

Cody Morissette added a seventh-inning homer to close out the scoring for Pensacola, while another Vazquez RBI double in the seventh made things 7-4, which is how things would end.

Vazquez continued his torrid stretch with a team-high three hits and two RBIs.

FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4

One day after picking up a massive win to boost their confidence, it was more of the same for the Cubs on Friday as they fell to the Tin Caps 6-4. Brandon Birdsell has suddenly gone into a funk and allowed four runs in four innings to raise his ERA to 3.24. That makes two rough starts for him in a row which was too much to overcome, with Bodi Rascon giving up two runs in five innings.

The Tin Caps didn't waste any time opening the scoring up as they pushed across two runs in the first for the 2-0 lead. Kevin Made did his best to pull the Cubs back with an RBI double in the second, only to fall behind 4-1 in the fourth. Marcus Castanon was the culprit, taking Birdsell deep for the two-run shot.

After Nathan Mortorella made things 5-1 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, Ethan Hearn pushed another run across with an RBI fielder's choice to make things 5-2. Hearn was just getting started as he would add an RBI single later in the game to pull the Cubs within 5-3. Looking to put the game away, Joshua Mears went deep in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-3 before a Kevin Alcantara single in the bottom of the eighth capped off the scoring in the Cub's 6-4 loss.

Made and Felix Stevens led the offense with two hits, with four other players picking up a hit.

Ed Howard and Moises Ballesteros combined to go 0-8 with four strikeouts.

KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS 8 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 0

It has been a while since the Pelicans were shut out, but that streak came to an end in a big way on Friday. Nick Hull was on the bump and labored through three innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, with three runs earned. His big issue was the combined performance of Tyler Schweitzer and Drew McDaniel, who allowed six hits with six strikeouts in the shutout.

It was deuces wild for the Cannonballers as they used four two-run innings to get the damage done against the Birds. The first came in the second when Mario Camilletti laced a two-run single to put the Cannonballers up 2-0. One inning later, you had RBI singles from Jhoneiker Betancourt and Johnabiell Larueano, extending the lead to 4-0 as the Pelicans searched for answers.

Those answers were nowhere to be found, with Jacob Burke homering in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-0 while Tim Elko and Bryce Willits added RBI singles in the sixth to close things out 8-0. The Pelicans had six hits, with Juan Mora leading the way with two.

DSL RAYS 5 - DSL CUBS RED 2

Despite DSL Red continuing to put their best effort on the field, the results haven't been great as they fell to the Rays 5-2. All of the Rays runs came in the span of two innings, which takes away what was otherwise an excellent pitching performance by the Cubs staff. Zhiorman Imbriano pitched into the fourth and allowed two runs while striking out three. The best pitcher on the afternoon for the Cubs was Jostin Florentino, who scattered four hits across 2 1/3 innings but also struck out four.

With the game tied 0-0 entering the fourth, the Rays broke through first with Jose Tovar and Jose Perez using RBI singles to take a 2-0. The next inning saw the Rays bust the game open as a pair of errors mixed with the Jhonny Perez RBI single had the Cubs trailing 5-0. It took them seven innings to cash in, with Angel Cepeda and Andres Bonolis using RBI singles to make things 5-2 before falling by that score.

DSL CUBS BLUE 11 - DSL TIGERS 8

We save the best for last for the Rookie League teams, with the DSL Blue squad breaking out the offense. That made up for a rough start from Juan Archibold, although it was better than it looked. Archibold gave the Cubs 3 1/3 and allowed five runs, but only two runs were earned as his ERA sits at 2.73. He walked two and struck out a season-high eight.

Both earned runs against him came in the first inning when Newremberg Rondon took him deep for the two-run shot and put the Tigers up 2-0. That was the Tigers' only lead of the day as the Cubs offense came to life in the second and scored seven times in the next three innings. Daniel Ferreira opened the scoring for the Cubs in the second with an RBI single, while the sacrifice fly from Omar Ferrera tied things up.

It was in the third when the Cubs took the lead for good and never looked back as another single from Ferreira brought home two more runs and had the Cubs in front 4-2. They extended their lead in the fourth inning with an Abel De Leon double and the Eriandys Ramon homer. There was also a sacrifice fly from Derniche Valdez in that inning as the Cubs led 7-2.

Once the bottom of the fourth rolled around, it was the Tiger's turn to break out the bats as they scored four times in the next two innings to pull within 7-6. Three runs came in the fourth, with Luis Watter picking up an RBI single mixed with a costly error. There was also a wild pitch leading to the third run that inning, while an additional wild pitch made things 7-6 in the fifth.

The big inning for the Cubs came in the sixth when the Cubs scratched across four runs to extend the lead to 11-6. Grenyerbert Velasquez and Ferrera were responsible for three of those runs with a pair of RBI singles, while the Ferreira sacrifice fly capped off his four RBI day with the Cubs leading 11-6. The Tigers would close the game with a pair of runs late, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs held on for the 11-8 win.

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