Cubs Minor League News: Wicks impressive, Made and Franklin homer, Pels with no-hitter |
The Cubs closed out another week of Minor League action with the full season squads taking the diamond on Sunday. For the most part, this was an excellent week for all the full-season clubs as all of them, besides one, earned at least a series split this week.
Myrtle Beach was the exception which is surprising when you look at how well they have played this season, but they did get back on the winning track on Sunday. The Cubs closed out an overall good week with a 2-2 showing and will now prep for their final July series this week.
This Iowa team is fun to watch and could be the best team they have had in a long time. However, given how the AAA playoffs work, more is needed, as the Cubs missed the playoffs by 4.5 games in the first half and currently sit 0.5 games out in the second half. For them to reach the postseason, they will need their pitching to show up, including Jordan Wicks, who had a great outing on Sunday. Wicks was dialed in from the start and allowed one run on four hits in five innings of work. He walked three and struck out two as he was backed by plenty of early support. After Wicks, it was a bullpen that pitched very well, apart from the three earned runs against Nick Niedert. Matt Mervis gave the Cubs an early 1-0 lead with a first-inning sacrifice fly, but the third inning busted the game open as the Cubs pushed across four runs in that frame. Nelson Velazquez started things with another homer to extend the lead to 3-0, with PJ Higgins adding an RBI single to make things 4-0. Nelson Velázquez grows our lead with this two-run blast! pic.twitter.com/ycOsSe6Img Throw in a wild pitch, and the Cubs were in complete control early, 5-0. The lone run against Wicks came in the fourth on the Alika Williams single, but the Indians weren't done as they scored four unanswered runs to pull within 5-4. Three came in the eighth on a pair of RBI singles from Canaan Smith-Njigba and Williams as the Indians refused to go down without a fight. However, it was the Cubs who had the last laugh as they responded with four runs in their half of the eighth as the Edwin Rios single made things 7-4 before Luis Vazquez capped off the scoring with an RBI double to lift Iowa to the 9-4 win. Alexander Canario and Yonathan Perlaza led the offense with two hits, as every starter had at least one hit in the win. Good to see Alexander Canario shoot this ball the other way into the gap for a 2-run double. pic.twitter.com/Ci9PQlm9dW
It has been a long series for the Braves as the Smokies have been one of the hottest teams in all minor league baseball. They cooled off a bit on Sunday, but it didn't take away from their great week. This was an old-fashioned pitchers' duel as DJ Herz and Luis De Avilla were locked into a low-scoring battle. Both pitchers nearly had identical lines as they walked two and struck out eight. The difference was De Avilla went six hitless innings while Herz allowed one run on one hit. Herz was followed by Brailin Marquez, who tossed a scoreless frame despite some command issues, as did Blake Whitney before Cayne Ueckert let things get away late. As expected, the lone run against Herz came on a long ball with Tyler Tolve giving the Braves a 1-0 lead in the first. Tolve was one of a few players that had his way with Tennessee pitching during the week, and the Smokies are happy to see him leave town. That run was the only run of the game until the bottom of the eight when Scott McKeon tied things up with an RBI triple. That tie didn't hold up too long as Drew Lugbauer connected for an RBI double off of Ueckert in the ninth and pushed two runs across for the 3-1 win. The Smokies had five hits in the loss, with Jordan Nwogu leading the way with two. McKeon, Andy Webert, and Haydn McGeary added the other three. We won the series. That's what matters. | @zips3mincarwash pic.twitter.com/SVuXRpkhz7
South Bend continues to struggle the most out of all the full-season teams as they have gone through a Jekyll and Hyde season. When they are good, they are tough to beat, but when they play bad, it is ugly to watch, and Sunday saw the Cubs deliver a little bit of both. Connor Noland was on the bump for the Cubs, and despite some early damage, he pitched exceptionally well. Noland gave the Cubs five innings of two-run baseball, although only one run was earned. He walked zero and struck out four, as his ERA is 3.61. He went up against Carlos Pena, who, despite walking four in five innings, allowed just one run on one hit to keep things close. Nice catch in foul territory by BJ Murray Jr. pic.twitter.com/YZCqRctbry West Michigan struck first on a Jace Jung homer in the first, as that was the lone earned run against Noland on the afternoon. The same can be said for Pena in the bottom of the first as James Triantos tied things up with a sacrifice fly. Two innings later, the Bradley Allen grounder gave the Whitecaps the 2-1 lead before they started to pull away in the seventh. In that inning, they scored three times to take a 5-1 lead as the Luis Santana homer made it 3-1 before Jung added a two-run single. South Bend wouldn't go away quietly, and with Pena out of the game, this was their chance to make something happen. Christian Franklin took it upon himself to keep things close as he connected for his second homer of the series to make things 5-3. The next inning saw the Cubs play long ball again, with Kevin Made leaving the yard to pull the Cubs within 5-4 as they would fall by that score. Two MONSTER @HoosierLottery home runs today for the #SBCubs! Made led the way for the Cubs offense, coming away with two hits and a homer. Franklin, Triantos, and Felix Stevens had the remaining hits for South Bend. On a side note, Kevin Alcantara remains out of the lineup after tweaking something in his left leg earlier in the week and remains day to day.
After getting shutout in back-to-back games, the Pelicans picked a great time to turn the tables as they shutout the Fireflies 5-0 to end the four-game skid. Granted, this was a rain-shortened win, so some of the zen was lost from this game, but the Pelicans did no-hit Columbia through six innings. Marino Santy started things off as he gave the Pelicans his best start of the season. Santy got through five hitless innings with eight strikeouts but also walked three. 🚨 NO-HITTER ALERT 🚨 Kenyi Perez took over from there and gave Myrtle Beach one inning before the rain ended the game. Most of the Pelican's damage came in the first inning as they gave Santy a 4-0 lead after one. Jefferson Rojas opened the scoring with an RBI single, followed by RBI singles from Parker Chavers and Cristian Hernandez. There was also a wild pitch that led to the final run that inning, as Myrtle Beach was off and running early. The Pelicans scored their final run off another wild pitch in the fifth as they did what they had to do in this one. The Birds had seven hits in the win as Reivaj Garcia and Rojas led the way with two. With tonight’s game being called after five innings…IOWA CUBS 9 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 4
MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 3 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1
WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4
Christian Franklin launched one OVER the batter's eye in center, while Kevin Made crushed a Tiki Hut shot 💣 pic.twitter.com/myk7FHvDaSMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 0 (F/6)
Rain turned #Cubs prospect Marino Santy's strong start of five hitless innings into the sixth @Pelicanbaseball no-no, the first recorded by just one person. pic.twitter.com/vvKgt3d3a3
That’s a NO-HITTER for MARINO SANTY!
The lefty tosses the sixth no-hitter in franchise history and he’s the first one to do it solo.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/RrRMWdmE04
